The Lost Viking
by Nishnibbles
Summary: What happens when Berks most useless viking finds himself lost and trapped on what he believes to be a deserted island. How will he survive when all the odds seem stacked against him. Based on the events of the first HTTYD film with a different take on the story.
1. Prologue

****Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train your Dragon****

Prologue

All my trouble began one uneventful morning, well, not so uneventful. This happened to be the first proper day of autumn, the ice had officially melted and ships could once again come and go. The temperature was still far from 'warm' but that's what you get living on an island located on the meridian of misery. I was inside the Haddock family household otherwise know as my house.

We had been raided the night before, which is taxing enough on the village as it is, and... my minor accident didn't help the matter _all_ that much.

"MINOR?!" bellowed Stoick the vast as he burst through the door. Hence the trouble.

"N-no one was hurt," I stuttered, "A-and I almost hit a Night fu-"

"No Hiccup, this was a step too far."

"B-but," I spluttered as he dragged me outside to Gobber, who was apparently waiting for me.

"What do you want me to do with him?" Gobber questioned, a slight hint of concern in his voice.

"Get him off this island-," Gobber looked worried.

After a minute of though Stoick finished, "send him fishing."

"But no one will take hi-"

"Make it happen," Stoick said fiercely. Any other Viking would have cracked under the glare that he shot Gobber. After a tense moment he backed down.

Gobber had a soft spot for me, probably because I was his apprentice. We spent most days in the forge together but, today wasn't most days. He gave me a little slap on the back off the head and we started walking.

I glanced up and caught sight of the aftermath of last night. There were towering swirling smoke columns reaching up into the sky. The biggest of them resulting from my accident. I winced and drooped my head.

The walk to the dock was really a walk of shame. From every door and window I was getting spiteful glares. Everyone I passed turned away.

"Nice one, you really showed us fishbone," taunted Snotlout as he strutted out in front of us. He was quickly rewarded with stifled laughter from the twins. I sighed and ignored their taunts, I was used to them by this point. Gobber pushed him aside and we continued on.

"Come on lad, no need to look so down, Stoick will get over it," Gobber comforted.

"This time was different, he was so cold to me."

"He has a village to look after."

"I suppose," I said glumly.

"Cheer up lad, I'll make sure everything goes back to normal," Gobber patted me on the back, "You just have to give Stoick some space right now."

I made a non-committal noise and shrugged slightly. We rounded the corner on to the dock. Deserted was an understatement; There was not a single Viking in sight. It was like a ghost town full of boats.

"Well she's not much but she's the only one man sail boat we have," Gobber started as we arrived at the very end of the dock and stared down at the undersized ship.

As I was climbing in Gobber grabbed my arm. I looked back at him questioningly.

"Be safe Hiccup," He said sounding slightly worried. I nodded earnestly and he patted me on the back on last time before letting me sail away into the ocean.

A moment later and I was alone. Alone in a small, slightly rotten fishing boat that creaked with each lap of the deep blue waves. I could hear the distant sounds of waves crashing against the shores and sea stacks of Berk, the sounds had a calming effect on me.

To be perfectly honest I would have much rather been in the warm, fire lit forge than out on the deep, cold ocean. It was then I slipped into a stupor thinking about how much I missed the forge. Before last night it had been a long time since I had been in there. I was almost more at home there then at my house, especially if my Dad was around.

A particularly big wave knocked me out of my daze and I wrenched my eyes away from my village.

"Ugh. This is so stupid! I've never caught a fish in my life and that's not going to change today," I moaned to myself, complaining, as I pulled up the empty fishing net for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

I hated fishing with a passion but, "I have to pull my weight," I repeated in a sarcastic tone mocking my Dad. However I knew the real reason I was out here; they didn't want me around the village as they thought I'd create even more trouble for them to deal with.

"It's not my fault the bola launcher missed and hit one of the massive defence torches," I mumbled, hitting my fist against the side of the boat with a small thud. In reality it was my fault. It also didn't help that the torch head had rolled through the village and caused about a dragons worth of damage.

"Minor calibration error," I grumbled.

I rummaged around through my overly large, old bag I had brought with me. It was given to me by my Dad, long before this fiasco; It was a kind of gift which was unusual to say the least. I never normally get any gifts from anyone. I'm not exactly popular.

With a piece of bread clutched in my hand, I extracted myself from the bag. "Why couldn't I have been a bread making Viking?" I questioned, "Would have been better for everyone."

I thought about what I had achieved with this 'fishing trip' as I tucked into my meal. I was supposed to be filling the bag with fish but, at that moment, I'd taken more from it than I had put back.

"Why do the gods hate me?" I sighed and hung my head. I finished my lunch of bread while in deep thought.

"Well I better get back to fishing," I lamented. Shortly after I stared off into the distance and slipped back into my stupor.

A few hours past in a haze of boredom. It had gotten a fair amount darker and later in the day but I didn't feel like going back, not yet at least.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the net started sliding off the edge of the boat and jerked forward. I jolted up and made a leap for the net. I grabbed it just as it slid over the side.

"Oh no you don't, not this time." I quickly started pulling in the net, excited as this could be the first ever fish I'd ever caught.

I almost stumbled trying to heave the soaked net up from the murky depths of the ocean. I sighed with relief as I finally hauled the last of the net up. I quickly recovered and started searching for the fish frantically making the boat rock slightly.

"Oh," I stated lackadaisically as I held up an old, smelly, slightly chewed boot. I gave it a disapproving look as if it had been the cause of all my troubles. I was about to throw it back into the sea when I noticed a small symbol on the bottom of it.

"Huh," I said tilting my head slightly at the foreign symbol, "I've never seen one like this before."

I pushed the thought aside and tossed it away, it was only a boot. I threw the net back over the side in a vain attempt to catch something before the day was up.

I was just thinking about how disappointing this trip had been when a shiver ran down the length of my spine. I realised that dark clouds now covered the sun and it had began to rain. Being caught up in excitement then immense disappointment, I hadn't noticed that the waves had become choppy.

Reality dawned on me when a large wave collided with the boat's side. The collision nearly knocked me off my feet, I managed to stay upright by clinging to the mast. I knew, as much as I didn't want to, I would have to get back to Berk as fast as I could; Immediately I pulled in the net and hoisted the sail.

The stronger than normal winds caught the sail violently and jolted my boat forward with a whoosh of breaking water. If it had kept up I would have made it back in no time. I did my best to keep the boat heading toward Berk without slipping over in the downpour of rain pelting me. I was better at sailing than the others of my age but, nothing had prepared me for this.

I assumed I was not moving fast enough when I heard a clap of thunder behind me. I panicked and rushed to make adjustments to the sail, but I knew that this boat wasn't going to handle this kind of weather. It only just held together on calm water.

"How can this day get any worse?!" I yelled over the storm, brushing my hair from my eyes. I heard the distant rumble of thunder as the rain started coming down in bucket loads. I was drenched to the bone.

I was correcting my course when an enormous wave slammed into the side of the boat making it tip dangerously and let out some disconcerting noised. As the boat crashed back down onto the waves the old worn rudder broke off with a soul destroying crack. I should not have asked.

So I was cold, wet and stuck on a boat with no control.

I groaned in frustration, "Can I do nothing right?!" I shouted. The temporary lack in concentration cost me greatly.

The solid wooden beam with the sail attached came flying round the mast, aided by the wind. It hit me straight in the back of the head. The force of the blow knocked me to the floor as the boat continued to pickup speed. I had completely lost control and it worried me more than anything. I was now travelling in an uncontrollable direction.

"Owww," I moaned from the deck of the ship. I feebly tried to sit up but everything slowly went dark...

 **I think I am finally happy with this chapter. It would be great to know your opinion on it. I really appreciate all the reviews. This is the first of a few re-writes as they are easier than writing a whole new chapter. I might be able to get some done before my exams really kick in. Anyway, until the next time.**


	2. Arrival

****Before we start I'd like to say a few words. Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak. Thank you****

Arrival

I opened my eyes slowly, only to get blinded by the morning sun. I quickly threw a hand over my eyes to shield them from its rays. Everything ached, it felt as if I had just woken up after a non-stop week of dragon training. I tried feebly to call for help, for anyone, but there was no reply. There was no noise apart from the small crash of waves. I opened my mouth to try again and abruptly I started coughing. Rolling over onto my front I passed out again...

For the second time that day I awoke only to find that it was nearly evening. Nothing had changed from earlier as I found out after bending my arm and receiving a shot of pain through it. Groaning to myself, I forced my way into a sitting position. The world righted itself and I looked around and took in my surroundings. I appeared to be in the wreck of my boat, I almost didn't recognise it in the state it was in.

"W-what happened," I rubbed my eyes and looked around. I'd never seen this beach before, it was so unfamiliar and almost unwelcoming. Upon gazing out to sea I noticed many rocky protrusions breaking the waters surface. When a wave rushed past they became completely submerged and hidden from view.

"Well that explains this situation," I glanced over at the remains of my ship. "I can see why we haven't been here before, must be Hel traversing those rocks."

With great effort I pulled myself up and I stood shakily using the wreckage as support. Brushing myself down I checked the state of my clothes. Lucky for me I had escaped mostly injury free, just a few bruises and holes in my shirt.

"I liked this shirt," I mumbled. "Stupid ocean."

Well I had to begin somewhere, so I started by searching the small ship - if you could still call it a 'ship'. I was hoping it still had some of my supplies buried in it but, I was distracted by my search for a small chest. It was one of my own designs and had a lock impervious to being picked as well as the Berk crest emblazoned on it. The chest contained a few items that meant a lot to me.

Being in such a rush had limited what I brought with me. Just the essentials had been packed along with whatever was already in the boat. The problem being I couldn't see the chest anywhere.

With much reluctance and a deep sigh, I gave up searching. I'd have to make do with what I had, the box was long gone.

I began the gruelling task of salvaging the wreck. The sail, rope and fishing nets would be useful; The wood could be an easy fuel for a fire rather than searching for driftwood. As I worked I began to feel the aches melting away which helped boost my spirits.

After a hour I had almost finished gathering everything into piles. I scooped up the last, rather heavy, arm-fulls of salvage and brought it to be sorted. Right as I was about to drop the collection I stopped dead. I had heard a noise, a faint rustling from a large bush to my left. I put it off as the wind rushing through its leaves.

"Keep telling yourself that Hiccup," I muttered.

I cautiously started to sort the stuff in my arms into the piles. It wasn't until I heard rustling again that I stopped and began to worry. This time it had been much closer and louder.

"H-hello?" I stuttered. The rustling immediately ceased.

Now scared I scanned the foliage for any signs of movement.

My breath caught in my throat as I spotted a pair of big, round, green eyes staring at me. They blended almost perfectly into the leaves; If I hadn't been scouring the foliage I would have never spotted them.

I retreated slightly being careful not to trip over rocks embedded in the sandy beach. I backed away faster trying to put as much space as I could between myself and it. I was at a loss of what to do. Normally I had someone close by. As much as they hated me, they didn't want to see the Chief's son hurt. This time was different, I was all alone.

A gasp escaped my lips as it emerged from its hiding place, it was a dragon like none I had seen before. It's massive form was covered with scales as black as the night. It walked on four legs and had two vast, powerful wings planted just behind the shoulders. The only dragon that fitted the criteria was a night fury but, I could only assume this is what a night fury looked like.

Terrified I scrambled backwards to distance myself from the beast.

I tripped and fell into the remains of the boat, sealing my fate with a loud crack. There was another series of thuds as all the junk I was carrying fell right on top of me. Splinters flew in all directions and I released a groan from under the pile.

I sat up to see the night fury staring at me. It was wide eyed in what I could only assume to be fright. _But dragons can't feel emotions, can then? They are just mindless killing beasts, aren't they?_ It apparently saw me looking and fled off into the forest, leaving me contemplating everything that I had been taught as a Viking.

I lost my train of thought when my stomach rumbled.

"I'm on it," I sighed, getting to my feet. I set to work on picking up everything I had dropped, still not really knowing what I was going to do with it all.

Upon closer inspection, this part of the island looked very beautiful in the setting sun. The light was dancing off of the waves and was illuminating the sky a brilliant orange. Secretly I had always loved sunsets and this one was no disappointment. In a way it almost seemed worth it for the view.

Highlighted by the setting sun there were some tall rocky cliffs opposite the water. They cut off the beach from the mainland and towered above me – there was no way I was climbing them. A moment of scanning later and I had found a small crevasse at the bottom of the massive structure. It caught my attention and I walked over.

The crevasse turned out to be a narrow passage through the rock, just big enough for a small Viking to squeeze through.

After poking my head through I concluded it was safe and less exposed. The area was a 'cove' structure and was surrounded by the tall cliffs on my side. On the opposite side there was a small, grassy incline leading up to a dense forest of towering pine trees.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but, this is ... nice," I stated, trying to take it all in.

I began bringing everything through one pile at a time. It took several trips and by the end of it I was thoroughly exhausted. It was as I sat down that I noticed something glinting in the low evening sun. I realised, much to my disbelief, that it was a fish in one of the nets.

"Hey look, maybe I'm not so useless after all," I said in surprise. "Maybe there is still some hope for me," I stared off into space and slipped into thoughts about my day.

I wondered about the dragon, "That can't have been real, can it?"

A minute of silence passed, "I mean, no one has ever seen a night fury and lived to tell the tale."

My speculations were cut short when I began to shiver. I realised that the sun had set and that it was getting dark. I quickly made a small campfire and dived into one of the piles in search of my flint and steel.

I struggled a little with it but, eventually encouraged a meagre flame to grow into nice fire. Having years of experience in the forge really does have its uses.

I put the fish on a stick and began cooking it over the fire. It smelled so delicious after not eating for at least a day. I didn't care that the blazing fire was probably obvious to anyone or anything on this island. All I cared about was the prospect of getting food after a long and exhausting day. Both physically and mentally.

I ate the last of my fish and pulled the sail over myself like a blanket. I was finally content or as content as one could be when sleeping on the open ground. With my situation far better than the previous day, I managed to slowly drift off to sleep in the warm embrace of the fire...

 ** **Reviews are really appreciated. I hope these re-writes are improvements on the originals.**** ** **Anyway, until the next time.****


	3. Exploration

**Not got much to say here, hope you are enjoying so far.**

Exploration

I awoke with start. A cold gust of wind had rushed into the cove. I stretched, sat up and began looking around, I was still groggy from sleeping. I could see that my fire had burnt itself out, all that was left was a pile of ash and a few twigs which must have escaped the fire's grasp.

I rubbed my eyes and turned them towards the sky realising that it could be about midday for all I knew. There was a thick layer of grey puffy clouds sprawled across the sky blocking most of the light. Everything that happened the previous day came rushing back – along with the aching. I groaned and did some more stretches.

"I better get to work," I mumbled to myself as I pushed myself to my feet, my legs protesting. As I got my balance I started to contemplate what I wanted to do today. I decided upon exploring this island. If I was going to live on the island then knowing it was top priority.

"I mean exploration never hurt anyone, right?" I rummaged through the scraps of wreckage and recovered the item I was searching for, a brown, leather, slightly tattered book. I flicked through its pages to check that it was in a useable condition.

"That's good," I said after seeing that it was mostly intact. This book had been given to me ,by Gobber, a few years back. It was supposed to be for drawing ' _all my crazy ideas_ ' as he put it. In the time after that I had used it everywhere I went, usually for drawing scenery. I reminisced over the memory as I walked over to the remains of the fire to find something to write in the book with.

I picked up some charcoal, "Looks like I'm in luck." I pocketed it.

After packing some of the little supplies I had at my camp, if you could even call it a 'camp', I headed off towards the rocky crevice that led to the beach. I planned to scout the edges of the island, this would allow me to see how big the island was. From what I had already seen it seemed to be a decently sized island.

There were two problems I had with a large island, the first being company. Not good company either.

"I could go for some good company right about now, not that anyone likes me." It was likely that someone or something was living here with me. A shiver ran down my spine, that thought worried me; I wasn't exactly what a Viking would call a good fighter. _I mean I could barely hold an axe, let alone swing one with any meaningful force._ I set off around the coast at a decent pace.

"Better get this over with," I mumbled. The second problem, as I was quickly learning, was how long it took to walk anywhere. Exercise had never been my forte. If the island was large it could take days to full explore.

"But the bigger it is," I drew some of the shoreline, "the more chance there would be for me to find a small settlement."

"Wouldn't that be nice," I murmured sarcastically after another pause. Despite my sarcasm I was in a rather good mood for someone who's shipwrecked on an island.

Still mumbling to myself I emerged through some thin foliage onto another gloomy beach, still feeling fairly optimistic. I let a breath out that I didn't know I had been holding and tried to pump myself up for the coming adventure.

"I can do this!"

I promptly tripped over a large rock. Releasing a yelp of pain I fell to the floor awkwardly clutching my foot.

"Well there goes my optimism," I dead-panned.

Giving the rock an annoyed glance, I climbed to my feet and brushed the dirt off my trousers. I picked up my unintentionally discarded book and charcoal. Setting off once again to start mapping the beach, I thought it would be a good idea to keep the cliff in sight so I didn't get too lost.

Not wanting to waste any more time I launched into drawing the bit of the coast where I just fell. It was easy enough to find, having just had a personal meeting with it. I started at the bottom of the slightly wet double page and continued from the existing line.

"Oh I almost forgot," I thought aloud and marked the place where the wreck had been with an 'X' like you might see on a pirate's map.

"I'll make sure to bury any treasure I find here," I said dryly whilst sketching the coast with a respectable level of accuracy. Accurate for someone with a lump of charcoal anyway.

I drew the towering cliffs and the small passage into the cove, along with as much of the beach as I could see from my current position. There were two ways to go along the beach, not including the path back into the cove.

In front of me was the continuation of my current path, a monotonous and uniform beach as far as I could see.

The alternative was backtracking past the passage into the cove and exploring the more plant heavy coast. This option was very tempting however, right as I was about to turn around a fleeting memory came back from the day before. In my mind's eye I could see a large pair of luminous green eyes staring out at me from the foliage.

"T-that can't have been real, right?" I wondered aloud, "...but just in case." I continued down the boring beach. _Better safe then sorry_.

I started briskly strolling down the beach away from the trees. The sea breeze was cold but refreshing and the walk gave me time to think about what I need to do next. I listed to myself everything I would need if I wanted to survive.

"Food, water, shelter and warmth." I added a few extra lines to my map.

Warmth and shelter I didn't need to worry about, I was sure I could build something up in no time. Camping out in the forests on Berk had been one my hobbies, mainly just to get a short break from life. I would never be allowed to say out long. Especially recently with the increased number of raids.

I felt a small pang of guilt for my Dad. Even though I hadn't exactly made it easy for him, he still didn't want any harm to come to me. The thought of what being lost out here would do to him was starting to worry me.

"There's nothing I can do about it now," I mumbled as I kept walking.

The most immediate problem was collecting food and water. They were the main reasons I was mapping the island, if I could find a clean stream of water I could mark it on my map and I wouldn't need to worry.

Back on Berk hunting is the biggest source of food as you can't exactly grow much food a few degrees south of freezing to death.

The problem being, "I'm useless." I kicked a rock in frustration at my helplessness.

"Maybe the Gods will gift me a opportunity," I sighed feeling more likely to see the island of Berk around the next corner than to be helped by the Gods.

"Why do the Gods hate me?" I questioned as I rounded the corner and saw neither Berk nor the Gods. I found myself asking that question a lot recently.

Ever since I had been allowed out of my house on my own Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout made sure I knew I was hated. The effect had worn off and I just ignored them when they spotted me.

Fishlegs didn't hate me but, ignored me. He knew that if he was caught talking to a hiccup like me he would get bullied by the others too, I didn't blame him for it.

And then there was Astrid. She was the most beautiful Viking I had ever seen, or anyone else had too apparently, judging by Snotlout's cringe worthy flirting. Unlike the others she did not show any hate towards me but, she didn't show any else either. She acted as if I didn't exist which, almost hurt me more than being hated.

After a few minutes of sketching I finished and rounded the next corner, "Damn it, this side looked so promising too." I was met with the abrupt end of the beach, and a sudden drop into the icy depths of the ocean.

I took a step back and took in my surroundings. It was not hard to see that the water had worn away at the beach to create a deep, dark and creepy cave in the side of the cliff face. The cave had no access by land and I didn't fancy swimming though the freezing sea water to explore it.

"An ominously glowing cave isn't the _most_ enticing place." I spun on one foot.

"I'm committed to exploring but... not that committed," I quipped and headed off back the way I came, the sky being a little darker then when I left...

 **Also before you leave I would appreciate a review or something, even if it's criticism, it still makes my day. This is my first proper story, so I'd like to know if I'm doing it right.**

 **If you haven't noticed I have an irrational love for commas, where I put them is just a guessing game at this point. Anyway, until the next time.**


	4. Encounters

**Updates are still slow and won't be getting any faster for a few weeks. But seriously thanks for everything, it means a lot. So then, onwards and upwards.**

Encounters

Exploring the island was boring and uneventful for the most part, I had mapped the entire outer edge of the island, well, all that I could; Even daring to push into the foliage that had concealed the large luminous eyes.

It had taken me most of the previous day but I had managed it. Although there was some terrain that even I didn't risk exploring.

"Long drops onto jagged rocks are not really my idea of a good days out," I muttered sarcastically.

It was already dark by the time I arrived back at my camp. I was completely exhausted and fell asleep before I knew it.

The next morning I regretted falling asleep so hastily. I must have been in an awkward position because everything ached when I tried to stand. Letting out a tiny hiss of pain I began stretching out the aches.

It was a new day and I had a lot of work ahead of me. I wanted to explore the centre of the island to continue my search for food and water. From what I saw before the terrain looked unforgiving.

"I hate exercise," I groaned, this was the main reason I was not looking forward to mapping it but, if it meant my continued survival I would have do it.

So with some reluctance and a lot of grumbling I kicked myself into motion. According to my crude sun dial I had set off about early morning but, it being cloudy made it not entirely accurate.

"Close enough," I shrugged and set off.

Initially progress was unobstructed and there was no trouble mapping the land. It seemed like a peaceful island, nothing I had yet come across was hostile.

"Key word, _yet_ ," waving the thought away I continued into the thickening foliage. The density of leaves and branches started to make it had to keep going.

After trekking through bushes for almost an hour I stumbled through some particularly thick foliage and into a clearing. Not expecting the sudden lack of resistance I toppled over and landed face first.

"Uggh," I muttered as I pushed myself to my feet and brushed the dirt off. I looked up and noticed something that lifted my spirits, a small stream of water. All my anger and frustration dissipated in seconds.

"Oh thank Thor!" I ran over to the river.

I began to gulp down some of the much needed water, it was cool like ice and just what I needed. Flipping open my note book I quickly scribbled its location on my map. Unfortunately I didn't have anything to store some. If only I was back on berk I could've crafted a bucket in no time.

"Odin knows I've had enough practice," I joked remembering the obscene rate of dragon-related fires. It was then I heard an odd rusting and grunting noise from behind me. Quietly I closed my book and tucked it into my vest.

I froze knowing that sound, it could only be one thing and one thing only.

"Oh no, not now..." I whispered.

I slowly turned to see it there right in front of me, a wild boar. Trying to stay calm and quiet was my only option. It hadn't noticed me yet and was making its way to the stream. I retreated as fast as I dared. My escape was in sight, I was almost away.

In my haste to distance myself from the boar I made a terrible error. I had not been watching where I was going and had walked directly onto a collection of pine cones. I noticed a moment too late after a terrible crunching under my boot. Glancing down I saw the broken remains of the cones.

Switching my gaze back up to see that the boar had clearly heard too. It was now angrily staring at me and making some unnerving noises. The boar walked forward menacingly trying to gauge my response. _Now's the time, fight or flight._

After a moment it seemed to realise that I was not a 'fighter' and decided to charge at me. I yelled and scrambled backwards as fast as I could, completely unprepared for the advance.

Turning and running was the simple part, however having to shove past thick foliage wasn't making my life any easier. I didn't have to look back to tell it was following. I could hear it huffing and grunting along behind me.

I pushed on as hard as I could. Using my agility to my advantage I dodged left over a fallen tree and made a quick change in direction hoping to lose it. All I could see was the green blur of leaves as I shoved them aside to make a passage.

I burst from the forest into another small clearing and skidded to a halt on the edge of steep drop. It was not large enough to kill me but if I did jump off I would be in no state to keep running after. I stood deadly still and listened out for any sign of the boar.

I could hear quiet grunts and the rustle of shrubbery.

Suddenly the boar emerged and closed the distance between us, instinctively I took a step back wanting to run but, my foot hit the edge and I almost slipped off. Still frozen and with nowhere to run I tried to make myself look big as a last resort but, this only seemed to enrage it more.

Quivering in my boots was an understatement, I was petrified. There was nothing I could do but stand still; That was until I heard a horrible sound, a crunching, crumbling sound.

The ground under my feet shifted violently and gave way. I flailed and tumbled backwards over the edge and down the slope. I landed flat on my back with a yell and began to roll down the hill. The pain was immense and unforgiving. Worst of all there was nothing I could do but let it happen.

I came to an abrupt stop when I collided with a large, firmly planted bolder near the bottom of the slope. I needed to run, I needed to get away, I tried feebly but nothing responded. A shadow loomed overhead, it was all over, I had failed.

"Noooo..." My vision slowly faded...

I awoke with a start and winced, there was a searing pain in my side.

"Ouch. W-where am I?" I questioned, completely confused by surroundings I didn't recognise.

After leaning against the boulder for a few minutes everything came rushing back. I jumped to my feet in order to start running again but, my head span and I collapsed back to the ground holding my side. Having given up I rolled onto my back and in the process realised that it was almost dark and that I must have been 'out' for hours.

"How am I alive? The boar was right on top of me, wasn't it?" I wondered in surprise. I tried to not think about it too much as I had to find my way back without any proper guidance. Patting myself down I found that miraculously nothing was broken in the fall.

I looked around to try find something iconic that I would remember but, to no avail, I was simply too deep in the forest. I fumbled around on the ground to find my book, I flipped it open to the page with the map and began to workout where I roughly should be. Noting that the closest shore is the one to the west.

Looking through a break in the trees, to the stars for guidance. Luckily I had learned how to tell directions from the stars, I just had to find the North Star.

After a few minutes I found the correct direction and I set off, rather downcast. Every part of me still hurt but I had to get back. I was hoping to get back on my map and from there back to my camp. It was as if the whole world was against me, as soon as I began walking rain began to pour down from the sky.

"Just great," I grumbled to myself, already drenched.

As I neared my camp I decided to take a potential shortcut into some bushes. It paid off, there were even some berries on the way which brightened my mood somewhat. By the time I was out of the forest the storm was in full force.

"I don't know what happened but Thor must be very angry," I shouted into the wind, right after a bolt of lightning struck one of the trees in the forest behind me, splitting it in two with a loud crash. Splinters flew everywhere and I had to duck to avoid them.

I forced my way through the pelting rain and finally reached the cove but, my work was far from done. Begrudgingly I started to drag stuff into a small cave in the side of the cove, which I had only just seen on my way in. Some smaller items blew away in the wind when I removed heaver things from atop them. I managed to grab the sail just before it caught the wind.

I finally flopped down in the back of the cave after bringing in what I could. It was a huge relief to be out of the wind and rain.

"What a horrible day," I sighed; Lightning struck again with a loud crack just outside the cove as if to accentuate my point. I piled up the last of my firewood.

"Wet of course," I mumbled, using my flint and steel to try and start a fire. It was almost impossible to get a spark let alone a flame but, after a lot of determination and stubbornness I had small flame glowing at the base.

At this exact moment the wind decided to rush into the cave and preceded to undo all my hard work. Being too cold and wet to try again I pulled the drenched sail over myself to attempt some measure of warmth. Somehow, even with the wind howling past the cave, I was able to eventually drift into a cold, uneasy sleep.

Suddenly I was shaken awake by a colossal lightning strike that split the sky just outside my cave.

"AAHHH!" I led back down and tried to get back to sleep but, I noticed something that was both comforting and worrying. My pile of wet firewood was... well it was on fire.

"B-but... but how?" I stammered in utter confusion. I didn't remember lighting it. _Was it the lightning? No, it can't of been._

"Then what was it?" Trying to fight off the feeling that I was being watched I settled back under my now dry sail and quickly drifted into a much more comfortable sleep...

 **I'm enjoying these re-writes so far, I hope you are too. I'm surprised anyone got this far the first time with the amount of spelling mistakes I've had to correct. Anyway, until the next time.**


	5. Unexpected

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I do plan to continue the story even if it takes me awhile, I won't give up so easily.**

Unexpected

By the time I awoke the storm was long gone. In its place the sky was left an excellent shade of orange in the early morning sun. It made the place seem somewhat more welcoming.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up wearily. It was time to see how much damage the storm had actually caused. There was a slight mist in the air, probably left over from the torrential rain the night before. It gave the island an ominous appearance. I yawned and stretched before deciding it was time to get up.

With some help from the cold rocky wall of the cave I pushed myself to my feet. Fighting off the urge to yawn again I shuffled over to the pile of everything I managed to save. I began looking though it to check if I'd lost anything in my rush the night before.

I let out at sigh of relief, most of the important items were there. Luckily it seemed that the only things that blew away were the light scraps of firewood.

After stretching and giving in to yawning I started picking up a few of the thing that I believed would be useful. I intended to finish mapping the parts of the island I didn't get around to doing, even though I was still worried that I might run into another boar. Or the same boar for that matter.

"Wouldn't that be fun," I stated sarcastically. Deciding that I no longer wanted to be defenceless, I searched through the junk pile for the pointiest piece of driftwood I could find. I emerged victorious with a jagged, mean-looking but, less than lethal plank.

I picked a my trusty notebook and some charcoal to write with. I took some rope with me, from the old fishing net, and used a shorter piece to create a crude tool belt. Within this belt I put my sharp pole and one of my hammers that had washed up with me a few days ago.

Before I had put the hammer in the belt I used it to sharpen my weapon to a rough point, getting several splinters in the process. I grumbled throughout the task about how I missed my metalwork gloves and organised tool cupboard back in the forge.

I felt in a much better mood when I finally set off, much more confident than a person should be one day after a boar attack, especially after the size of the hill I tumbled down.

"I wonder what I will find today," I said curiously, walking up the slope of the cove away from the safety of my cave.

A few hours of walking, swinging my imitation sword in mock combat, and mapping passed before finally I reached the place I really wanted to explore. It was a place I had left blank when drawing the coast. What was particularly interesting about this part of the island was that it couldn't be reached by following the beach all the way around, there were impassable rocky cliffs on either side. The top of map remained incomplete because of these towering walls.

My curiosity drove me to find out what was in between the monoliths of dark rock, so that was why I could be found fighting my way through shrubbery. It was my attempt to access the en-cove from the mainland.

Finally, I broke through the leaves and emerged onto a rough out-crop of rock which over looked the en-cove. For a moment I was blinded by the midday sun. As my eyes adjusted the structure came into view. It was beyond huge, directly below me was a beach shaped like a horseshoe and was surrounded by the cliffs I had seen previously. These cliffs led out to sea and encompassed the area leaving a large gap for water to flow.

What was in the centre left me stunned and utterly speechless.

"And here I was expecting a dull beach," I joked. I was looking down on the biggest fleet of ships that I had ever seen. Some of the ships were 'small', about the size of a Berkian hunting ship, these appeared to be for fleet support. Others were bigger than I thought physically possible. The flame of adventure was kindling within me, nothing excited me more than learning how they made these ships float.

I scanned the sides for a way down. It took me a few minutes but, I finally spotted a path that looked both traversable and dangerous, so I headed off in that direction.

The decent had appeared dangerous from a distance and looked worse up close but, I was too excited to care and started to scramble down the steep passage.

Unfortunately I was overzealous and had become careless. I realised this a second too late when my right foot preceded to slip off the wet rock. I would have followed with it if I hadn't reacted quickly.

Swinging my hands up in panic, they found purchase on a small tree root dangling over the edge. I gasped and clung on tight. For a few treacherous seconds I dangled worryingly past the edge before I managed to place both feet firmly back on the path.

I was not out of trouble yet, my upper body was still leaning perilously over the edge. Worst of all I could feel the root beginning to give way. With no time to spare I pulled hard and fast on the root; As it snapped I was propelled forward.

I flailed my arms wildly and finally fell forwards onto the safety of the path.

"That... was too close," I gasped trying to catch my breath. After that narrow escape I slowed my pace and watched the path to make sure I wasn't going to slip again.

I jumped the final metre down onto the beach with a satisfying crunch of stones. After straightening up I started to formulate a plan to get onto the biggest ship. It took a few minutes of scrambled mutterings and odd hand gestures but I finally manage to scrape together some ideas.

"What could possible go wrong," I said, temping fate. To initiate my 'plan' I first had to tie a loop in the end of the rope I had brought.

"Well that was the easy part," I was not looking forward to this section of the plan, it involved finding a small boat on the edge of the fleet and throwing the rope loop over it in such a way that I could pull it towards me. I knew that boats of this size must have some kind of landing craft, I was just hoping they were left in the water.

Finding a suitable boat was mostly uneventful. Now came the task of 'hooking' it. My first attempts were pitiful with the loop landing short. At the start I was discouraged but, after awhile it turned into a game. A particularly strong throw caused the rope to arc through the air and, much to my surprise, it caught the front of the boat. I gave a small woop of joy and threw my hands up in celebration.

I began tugging on the rope when I realised how truly heavy the boat was.

"It must be attached somehow," I huffed as I dug my heels into the sand. Pulling with all my strength caused the boat to make some disconcerting noises, and with a jolt, it became free. In the beginning it was painfully slow however it quickly picked up speed.

I knew it had collided with the beach when I felt a jolt in the rope. Letting out a sigh of relief, I flopped onto the beach, exhausted.

Once I recovered and climbed into the gently rocking boat, I retrieved the rope and prepared to throw it again, to pull myself towards the fleet of ships.

"I'm starting to get good at this," I laughed as I achieved the throw in a fraction of the attempts of the first time. Dragging myself across the water and then clambering up the ship's side was still going to be difficult but, I was taking every little victory I could get.

With a last tired heave the boat contacted the side of the main fleet, "I'm not made for this whole exercise thing," I groaned; Being the weakest Viking on Berk had its drawbacks, other than the name calling.

Eventually I pulled myself up and onto the deck of the larger ship and rolled onto my back, gazing up at the clouds, catching my breath.

A few minutes later I stood up having collected what remained of my energy.

"These ships aren't going to explore themselves," I said sarcastically but, with a slight glimmer of hope in my eyes.

 **More next time I guess, whenever 'next time' is as it is a bit arbitrary with me. If you could spare a moment, please review, I appreciate all of them. Back to proper chapter writing soon I hope. Anyway, until the next time.**


	6. Fleeting Concern

**Here we are again, I will keep this short, hope you enjoy.**

Fleeting Concern

I stood tall, scanning the decks of the wooden ships for any sign of movement.

"If anyone was here they would have seen me recovering from all that exercise."

It took me a long while to scour the fleet as there was just so much to take in. Hatches and doors were spread almost at random across the gently rocking boats, some left open, others clearly bolted shut. There was one thing that was bugging me about this whole scenario.

"Where is everyone?" I questioned. There were no sign of a struggle; The ships were mostly intact apart from a few broken masts and torn sails. It gave them a sinister feel and made me wary of what could be lurking somewhere on this island.

I found some steps leading down into the ship that I had climbed up on. I decided that it was a good place to start. I began slowly creeping forwards, trying not to give myself away to any potential attackers.

Having safely reached the hold with only a few minor creaks of wood, I launched into searching the cargo. Luckily for me, the ship I had entered was a supply ship for the rest of the armada. Back at Berk, I had worked on a lot of ships when doing work for the forge, so I had my fair share of boat knowledge.

"If I'm right, this should house all the food and spare parts that the other ships couldn't hold." I said, reassuring myself. I felt my way down the inside of the hull. Not having much light to work with made life difficult and I stumbled over a few things but, eventually found what I was looking for. It was the spare weapons. I grabbed as many as I could hold and slowly made my way back.

After shuffling around in the dark for too long I reached the deck of the ship. I subsequently dropped all the metal weapons into a pile with a loud clang.

"Now I've got to find the right one for me," I stated without much enthusiasm - I'd never been great at fighting.

In front of me was a whole variety of weapons - some swords of different lengths, lots and lots of axes, and one shield. I picked up one of the axes in my right hand. It turned out it was extremely heavy so I had to drop it shortly after. The next axe I tried was lighter but, giving it a test swing threw me off balance and I toppled onto the floor with a yelp.

The result was very similar with the rest of them. I eventually conceded that axes were not my weapon and moved on to swords. The untested pile of swords was to my left so naturally I leaned down to pick one up with my left hand, planning to pass it to my right.

Something felt odd, but I ignored it and continued testing swords with my right hand. The results were similar to the axes, but I had started to notice a trend. Every time I picked up a weapon It felt easier to handle in my left hand. Whilst I tested a dagger I passed it back into my other hand and gave it a few test swings, it felt more precise and not clumsy.

Then it hit me.

"I'm left handed?!" I exclaimed confused, "How have I only just found this out?"

I had been using my right hand all my life. It was what I had been taught to do. Excited by this new discovery I picked up an axe and gave it a few swings. It certainly felt easier to swing but it was still slow and cumbersome, so I opted to take the dagger and shield and abandoned the rest.

With that task out of the way I had to figure out what I was going to do next. I wanted to reach the flagship of the fleet as it might contain some crucial information on what happened. This main ship however was out reach and I had to opt for one of the close ships.

Fortunately for me, there was a slightly bigger ship knocking into the side of the one I was on. I carefully hopped over the gap and landed safely of the other side.

This schooner was in a worse condition then the last one; It had flooded slightly. The mast was at an odd angle and it groaned slightly as the boat rocked. I didn't fancy going below deck. All I could see at the bottom of the stairwell was water, so I settled on trying to find a way into the only room above deck. I gave the door an experimental push only to find what I was expecting.

"Locked... figures," I sighed. I could see that the door was looking worse for wear, so I gave it a kick. The lock rattled loosely. I kicked again, this time harder. Another rattle. I tried for a third time. This time as my foot connected with the door there was a loud crunch as the bar stopping the door from opening snapped in half. Not expecting the sudden lack of resistance I fell forwards through the doorway.

I coughed as my actions had stirred up a lot of dust, I had to back out and wait for it to settle again.

The inside of the room interested me greatly. Against the far wall was a shelf. There were some maps of islands that I had never seen before nailed to the side walls. A particular map caught my interest. It was laid out on the table which had once been owned by the captain - or at least that is what I had assumed.

What was so interesting about it was that it had this island on it and some kind of planned route. I had recognised the island from my roughly drawn map.

"This island was supposed to be a stopping point for the armada..."

"So what went wrong?" I wondered.

I looked to see where the fleet's final destination was, but there was a jagged edge on the map. It looked like it had been torn off sometime ago.

"Damn it," I muttered.

I was about to leave the map when I saw something that made me do a double take. There was a tribe symbol in the top left corner of the map. I examined it some more.

"Why do I feel like I've seen this before?"

I pushed the thought aside and turned to look at the shelf. There was a pot with some charcoal pencils in, I helped myself to a handful; I would have felt bad but there were no signs that anyone was left here. There were a few personal items on the shelf, but none of them would be of any help, so I decided to move along the shelf.

I stopped when I noticed a dusty notebook. It not unlike my own, but again like the map it had the symbol stamped on the front. I picked it up and blew the dust off. It was written like a diary, although some of the words were smudged and hard to read. The first few pages were uneventful - nothing particularly useful. It was information about the course set and about a lively party held to boost moral at a previous stop.

A sadness had settled in my heart at reading about the party, it reminded me of Berk and how far I still had to go.

I flicked forward a few pages, skimming for anything that might give me a hint as to what happened. After a few minutes, I found a page titled, " _Thor's Day, 30"_. This followed with the rest of the diary. It was the day of the week followed by the how many days they had been sailing for. The reason it had caught my attention was just because of the volume of writing crammed on the relatively small page.

The entry started " _After the events of yesterday we were all deeply worried._ _"_

I stopped reading and turned back a page, as I could have guessed it was titled, " _Woden's Day, 29"_. Initially, everything seemed normal about the entry until the last few sentences. From what I could tell whatever happened had happened just after sunset.

It began, " _From what I've heard it sounds like Burghard has gone missing. No one knew that he left. Only one of the spotters thinks they saw him leave into the forest."_

It was followed by a break in the writing and then, " _It's now dark and Burghard has still not returned, I guess we have no choice but to assume that he is not coming back. I guess it's an occupational hazard, but it has still shaken his crew mates badly."_ The entry came to a close with a statement of, " _I hope the rest of the stay is uneventful._ _"_

I flipped the page and continued reading from where I left off. From the sounds of it they sent an unsuccessful search party out to try and find their lost crew member. But unfortunately for them, the rest of the stay seemed less than pleasant.

It only seemed to get worse from that day forward. More and more crew members started disappearing. Everyone wanted to stay and find the lost.

I skipped a few pages until I reached the last entry. It looked like it had been rushed. There were more scribbles and smudges than before. I could just barely make out the day, " _Sun's Day, 33"_. There was a warning scrawled in the middle of the page. " _Do not...,"_ There was a large scribble covering a word, _"_ _… the caves."_

"Don't what the caves?!" I grumbled in frustration. The diary created more questions than it answered. The entry continued about someone who had come running out of the forest screaming about. " _The eyes."_ Whatever they were.

The last line made my stomach drop faster than a stone. All it said was, " _It has found me..."_

All the other pages were blank.

I carefully put the book back and quickly searched the cupboard for anything useful. I was actually searching to try and distract myself from what I had just read. I didn't want to dwell on thoughts of what I could be sharing an island with.

A lot of the stuff was old maps. I took some to use as kindling as none had Berk on them. There was an old leather tool belt hidden near the bottom. I put it on in place of my crude rope one.

"This could come in handy," I joked. I also found a small throwing axe which I tucked into the belt.

I exited the room not wanting to spend another second in there - it was starting to give me the creeps.

After climbing back down to the smaller boat, I pushed myself close enough to the shore to jump on to the beach without getting wet. I was now feeling both scared and better equipped - scared of whatever was mentioned in that diary. But I now had a weapon, shield and some extra stuff I picked up. I took one last glance at the fleet before beginning the climb back up the cliff.

I stopped as I had suddenly remembered where I had seen that tribe symbol before.

"It's the same symbol that was on the boot I fished out a few days ago," I said in realisation. It still didn't help me identify it, but it was a start.

The long trek back to the cove was long to put it short. For most of the journey nothing really happened, apart from every time there was a noise I jumped in surprise. I guess that final entry had really put me on edge.

Everything seemed to be going fine on the return trip, until I heard a distant screech unlike any I had heard before. It had made me pick up my pace, not wanting to be in the darkening forest any longer than was necessary. I walked past the stream I had found so I could collect water.

I had arrived back at my cave just as the sun set. I made a fire with some of the maps and the leftover firewood. It was considerably easier than before as I now had kindling. I ate some of the berries I had found on the walk back as well as some of the unspoiled food I had found on those ships. It wasn't half bad either.

I settled, still rather scared, under the sail which I was using as a blanket again. After a long while of rolling around, I fell into an uneasy sleep with the unnerving screech still echoing in my ears...

 **I would really love to hear your feelings on this story, it is my first proper story and I'd like to know if I can do anything better, or just anything really, I would really appreciate a review. Well that's all I've got to say, so until the next time.**


	7. Lurking Presence

**I should probably writing something funny or informative here but I either can't think of anything or am too lazy to think of anything. Did no one get the pun of the title last chapter? Or do you all hate puns or something? I am disappoint. Anyway, onward and forwards.**

Lurking Presence

I awoke with a start. The first thing I noticed was that everything ached. "Uugh, I must have slept badly," I moaned in to my hands. I continued to rub my eyes as I was not properly awake yet.

My stomach soon rumbled. At that point I had no other choice but to get up. I pushed myself to my feet and stretched, letting out a large yawn. I then stumbled over to my pile of stuff to see if I had anything left to eat.

Fortunately for me I had some bread, less fortunately it turned out to be slightly stale.

"I guess this will have to do," I grumbled. This had made me think about how I was going to get a reliable source of food.

"Hmm..." I contemplated as I scanned the map I had drawn.

After much consideration, I announced, "This might work." I had placed my finger on a particularly large river.

"I could make it work, if and only if there turns out to be fish in that river," I explained aloud to no one.

Snapping my note book closed I set about collecting my tools. A few minutes later I stepped outside and into the dim light of the morning sun. I had a bit of a trek ahead of me, so didn't want to waste any time.

"Off I go again," I said in an almost cheerful manner. As soon as I reached the top of the hill to the north of the cove, I realised that I had forgotten my shield, so I had to run back and get it.

I returned to the same spot and continued into the forest, this time with my shield. My planned route to the river took me past the hill I had fallen down when being chased by that boar. Trying not to think about it too much, I pressed on through the leaves and low hanging branches.

As I approached the slope I began to lose focusing on where I was going - my feet were carrying me forwards and I was in autopilot. I was once again wondering about what had happened after I had passed out at the bottom of the hill. All I could remember was a great deal of pain and a shadow closing in on me. I grumbled to myself – not being able to figure out the mystery annoyed me greatly.

The thoughts and theories were pushed from my mind when I got a mouthful of leaves.

I had unknowingly walked straight into the low branch of a birch trees. I took a large step back and spat out the leaves. Annoyingly for me the branch was low enough that I couldn't simply walk under it. So I ended up crouching down and shuffling awkwardly under it.

On the other side was a small clearing.

"I remember this place."

It was the clearing where I had awoke after falling down the slope. I looked around and found some familiar things. In the distance, at the top of the hill was the slight cliff that I had slipped of. Close to me was the boulder that stopped my tumble. I didn't recognise it at first because the only time I had seen it was from the other side and when it was dark. I stepped a bit closer and noticed something.

"Huh? What are these?" I questioned.

There were some objects on the floor by the boulder, they were black and shiny. I picked one up and then I realised what they were.

"These are scales!" I exclaimed.

I had never seen scales like them, so out of curiosity I picked a few up and pocketed them. They felt odd, like nothing I had touched before. They were very smooth on one side, and rough on the other. I started walking again, but more slowly than before as I was deep in thought.

In my head I was listing all the dragons I had read about in the book of dragons. Only one fitted the description that I had got from the scales.

"A Night Fury," I said aloud, "But there can't be one here... can there?"

"I was attacked by a boar not a dragon," I tried to convince myself.

I tried not to think about it too much as I continued towards my destination.

Not much later, I pushed into the clearing around the river.

"Phew, that was some walk," I said exhausted.

I had my fill of the water and began to study the river and its surroundings. I followed the river down stream until it became shallower. I found a spot that had a depth that would satisfy what I wanted to do.

My plan was to block the river with large rocks and branches so that water can still flow through but fish would get caught. It was a simple plan in theory, but in practice it was a lot harder.

The first problem I ran into was finding enough debris to create my dam, I managed to solve the problem by cutting small branches off of trees with my throwing axe, and using them as dam material.

The second problem was the strength of the dam, but luckily for me this is what I loved doing – designing inventions.

After a few hours of collecting and building, I stepped back to admired my creation. It wasn't perfect but was holding strong. I sat back on the grassy bank beside the river and let my feet dry in the midday sun.

"And now we wait," I declared.

It didn't take long for me to get bored of waiting, so I decide to explore some of the interesting terrain that was near. The thing that caught my attention most on my map was a large pit in the ground which had stone walls. It looked like my cove but with stone cliffs on all sides and it was sunk into the ground.

I put my boots back on and started strolling towards the pit. I was in a good mood as I set off, but another echoing draconic screech put me on edge again. It didn't take that long before I found that I was recognising a tree every now and again.

"That's the sign that I have been on this island too long," I said sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood. In reality it was useful as I had to look down at my map less. This meant I walked into less branches – a win win situation.

I pushed through the last layer of leaves and emerged on the edge of this 'pit'. It was lit up by the afternoon sun; I could see all of the detail of the rock faces, but most of the pit floor was still in shade. I scanned the perimeter of the pit to see if there was a way down. It appeared as if there was a possible opening to my right, but it looked steep and dangerous.

"Perfect, I like dangerous," I said dully.

When I arrived at the opening, I carefully looked over the edge to see if I it was actually safe enough to climb down. I grumbled, it seemed to be safe, but that still didn't make me want to start climbing any more than before.

After psyching myself up, I lowered myself down onto the first ledge. From here I could see into the pit as I was on a ledge that over looked it.

Behind and to my left was a steep sloping path which led down into the pit. If I hadn't been looking for a way down I would have never spotted it. With much reluctance, I decided to follow the path.

Whilst walking along I would occasionally get glimpses of the pit floor through the rocky pillars that sheltered the path.

At the bottom, I came out into the pit behind a large boulder. I glanced round the corner and saw it.

I gasped. It was the black dragon from my first night on this island.

"I though I imagined it," I whispered. Not wanting to fight a dragon I quickly but quietly climbed back out of the pit until I was back to the ledge near the top.

From the ledge I could see how I missed it the first time, it blended almost perfectly with the shadows.

It gave me a shock when it started flapping. I shrunk into the shadows myself. I expected it to fly overhead, but instead all I heard was a screech and a loud thud. My curiosity was killing me, so I peeked over the edge to see what had happened. The dragon was led on the ground, almost like it had crashed.

"Why don't you just fly away?" I asked quietly. It pushed itself to its feet and started to flap again, but this time I watched. It leapt into the air and looked like it was going to escape but as it reached the peak of its leap it tumbled over in mid-air and came crashing back to the ground, tail flailing.

I could see that it was clearly frustrated and it shot a purple fire ball at the cliff wall. There was a huge explosion when it hit. It sent birds scattering into the air and made some rocks come loose and fall into the pit.

The dragon then shook its wings and tail and spread them out. It was the perfect opportunity to sketch it, so I quickly pulled out a pencil and my note book. Flipping to a blank page I began sketching the 'Night Fury'.

I started with the head, it had small flaps which I assumed were ears and large green eyes. Its body wasn't much wider than its head, but it thinned out towards the tail. The wingspan was as wide as the dragon was long.

"That must be where it gets its speed from," I said to myself.

I looked back up at the dragon and realised that it only had one tail fin and I had accidentally drawn two, assuming that it would be symmetrical. I rubbed out the left fin leaving a small smudge. When I finished I sat and just observed the night fury. After seeing it fail to catch a fish, I almost felt sad for it being trapped. But I knew that it was a mindless killing beast, wasn't it?

"But what makes it any different?" I began questioning everything I had been told about dragons. "They can't be mindless if they feel anger and sadness, right?"

I was deep in thought and hadn't noticed that my grip had loosened on my pencil. I realised a moment too late and I saw it slip of the edge of the ledge. I made a grab for it and missed.

It clattered down the rock face and came to rest on the pit floor. I slowly looked up to see the night fury staring at me with a piercing gaze. I stared back and slowly tilted my head. The dragon did the same. I was getting uncomfortable and had to back out.

It had felt like it was staring straight into my soul.

I ran for a few minutes to get away from the pit. I stopped when I was happy with the distance I had put between myself and the night fury. I caught my breath.

"Why didn't it kill me when it had the chance?"

I started walking again as I continued to think. I thought back to when it had looked at me, it had looked scared.

"But I'm not scary, no one has ever found me frightening," I thought aloud, "Maybe it was scared of being trapped and starving." That conclusion didn't really satisfy me as I couldn't tell why it was trapped.

After about an hour of pushing through leaves and branches I emerged back at the top of the slope leading into cove.

"A sight for sore eyes," I said tiredly. It had been a long day of travelling and working. I walked back into my cave and flopped on the floor in the evening sun.

"Lucky I got lost in 'summer'," I dead-panned. I recovered enough energy to build a small fire - it didn't take too long. I was getting quicker and better at starting the fire with my flint and steel.

I got out the last of the food I had taken from the ships and sat down. The fire popped and crackled merrily besides me. It raised my spirits and provided me with warmth. I hoped that my dam worked so that I could enjoy some fresh cooked fish tomorrow, the thought of it was already making me more hungry.

After finishing my food and thinking about the days events, I finally settled down to sleep. I pushed all thoughts of the night fury from my mind and slowly drifted into a deep slumber.

 **I hope you liked it, please review and tell me if there is anything I can do better. I again don't have much to say. My updates are still going to be sporadic and I don't think they will ever not be. I'm open to any ideas as I don't really know where this story is going myself. Anyway, until the next time.**


	8. Unlikely Friendship

**This is a slightly longer chapter so, enjoy. Onwards and forwards.**

Unlikely Friendship

I was creeping around in the forest in the dead of night. The only sound was my own footsteps; no birds were chirping or owls hooting. I stopped when I heard a rustle of leaves. I turned slowly around and there in the bushes was a pair of eyes. The eyes were angry and a fierce red in appearance. The creature looked ready to pounce so I bolted as fast as I could.

Leaves whipped my face as I pushed through them but I didn't dare look back. I could hear it crashing along behind me, clearly irritated by something I had done. The creature showed no signs of slowing down. I forced myself to run faster, even though I knew I couldn't keep it up forever. Unfortunately for me, I wouldn't have to as a moment later I tripped over a protruding tree root.

"Noooo..." I yelled as I fell. It was on top of me, red eyes gleaming menacingly. I braced myself for an attack but, it never came...

Gasping deeply I awoke in a sweat. I was still dark. I sat up my eyes still wide in fear.

"I-It... was only dream," I tried to reassure myself whilst letting the cool breeze wash over me.

The cold air was almost soothing. "Why did it feel so real?" I questioned.

I sighed audibly and stared up at the full moon. Trying to calm myself I pulled out my note book and flipped to an empty page. As my breathing returned to normal I began to sketch the cove and the night sky above it.

By the time I had finished I had completely forgotten the dream and my eyelids were beginning to droop. So, rather reluctantly, I snapped my book closed and settled back under the makeshift cover. It wasn't long before I drifted into a much more comfortable sleep.

For the second time that morning I woke up, but this time a lot less dramatically. I got up and completed the normal routine. I had entirely forgotten the night's events apart from the picture I had drawn. I grew fonder of it the longer I looked at it. It was a bit rough in places and the moon looked too big, but it reminded me of the clear nights back on Berk. It somehow made the cove feel a little more homely. It also reminded me of how alone I was in this vast sea...

After pushing aside the saddening thoughts, I pushed myself to my feet with a newly gained motivation and a steely look in my eyes. I was completely out of food in the cove and I didn't even have enough to break my fast. So, I would have to rely totally on what my dam had produced.

My plan for the day was to initially get some food but, as curiosity was raging in my heart, I knew I had to check on the night fury. Being Hiccup made me different. most Vikings would flee knowing the destruction that they can cause, but I was intrigued.

"Maybe being the first to see a night fury and living to tell the tale will earn me some respect... I doubt it," I said sarcastically. "They'll just think I made it up again."

I went to check the beach for some dry drift wood, as my supply of firewood was dwindling. However, I saw something that I was not expecting.

On the shore was a lumpy, wet cloth looking thing. "Huh, what's this?" I questioned.

After staring and poking it, I concluded that it was harmless.

"Ohhhh," I exclaimed realising what it was.

It was a large bag.

"If I am not mistaken this isn't any old bag... it's my bag," I said. It would come in handy as I could store food in it. I squeezed as much of the water out of it as I could and a few minutes later I continued my search for firewood.

I dropped the branches and small logs inside my cave so they wouldn't get wet if it happened to rain. While I was in the cave, I collected my shield and slid my dagger into my tool belt. It didn't take long to get prepared - being hungry made sure of that. I walked away from the cove and into the forest. It was hard to see as the sky was cloudy and leaves blocked most remaining light. I almost walked into several low hanging branches.

A bit later the trees thinned and I was able to see better. this let my thoughts wander as I had to concentrate less on avoiding trees. My pace slowed.

I wasn't sure why but I really did miss Berk, even if I was shunned by everyone and was only seen as a troublemaker. Maybe it was because I missed the company or maybe I missed the very small chance of making friends as I was finally old enough to start dragon training. Thinking about it had brought me to the conclusion that I had to get off this island.

"But what would my Dad think?" I asked aloud. I tried not to dwell on the negative thoughts and pushed further onwards.

When I finally reached my destination it was almost midday. I ran over to the dam to see that stuck behind it was - much to my disbelief - no less than four fish. Two cod and two salmon. I pulled them out and put them into my bag, leaving one salmon out. I then gathered some wood for a fire big enough to cook one fish.

It didn't take long before I was happy with the volume of wood collected.

Lighting it took a few tries, but I eventually got there in the end. I created a makeshift rack to hold the salmon. It was crude and consisted of three sticks in a pyramid shape above the fire. I had to prepare the fish which was far from pleasant. As it was cooking I began repairing the damage caused to the dam by the fish. I reinforced it with more stones and wooden braces.

Once I was satisfied with my work, I sat down next to the fire and checked the fish. I was almost cooked throughout, so I turned it over to help speed up the process. I then laid back on the grassy river bank and stared up at the clouds.

Some time passed and I pushed myself up to see that the salmon was done. After not eating that morning, the fish smelled delicious. I devoured it in a matter of minutes, faster then I ever could normally.

After I finished, I pushed myself to my feet and stretched. I analysed the dam once more for weak points before strolling off into the forest. I was now heading for the pit where I had seen the night fury.

It only took me about an hour to get there as I knew my way. I almost tripped on some rocks and decided to be more careful so I didn't give myself away so early. I peaked slowly over the edge of the ledge and, sure enough, there was the night fury - it looked like it was sleeping. I sighed in relief as it was still trapped here.

"Why? Why are you trapped?" I whispered.

I tried to remember as much as I could about dragons. I thought back to everything I had learned from the book of dragons – I had read it in preparation for dragon training.

I couldn't think of anything useful - the book didn't have anything on night furies.

"If only there was some kind of 'night fury pamphlet," I said sarcastically. I slowly made my way down the rocky path towards the pit floor. As I got closer I could see that the night fury looked less like it was sleeping and more like it had collapsed.

Once I reached the bottom I held my shield up in front of myself. I began to creep forwards. As I got to the halfway mark, I fell over something that I hadn't seen. As I hit the floor my shield was wrenched out of my hand; It flew several feet in the air before landing with a crash on the rocky ground next to the night fury.

Wincing, I slowly looked up. That had done it. It was looking straight at me with a piercing glare. Now scared, I shuffled backwards until my back hit a boulder. There was no where to run. I had to think fast. It looked as scared as I was but, It was slowly approaching, eyes narrowed.

Suddenly it clicked, it was hungry. There was only one thing I could think of doing "It'll never work but, It's the best idea I've got," I said trying to pump myself up.

I stuck my hand into my bag and pulled out a fish. This seemed to surprise even the night fury. I would've laughed if I wasn't so scared. I held it out in front of me. It was still coming closer. I braced for teeth and claws to hit me but, they never came.

I opened one eye to see the night fury growling and being defensive. On one hand it looked like it really wanted the cod. On the other it was staring straight at my dagger and growling. I put my empty hand next to my dagger and the dragons eyes narrowed more and it growled louder "No no no!" I exclaimed pulling my hand away quickly.

"I must be crazy," I whispered as I pulled the dagger out of my tool belt and dropped it on the floor. The night fury's gaze was still fixed on the dagger. It made a flicking motion with it's head. I understood what it wanted. I sighed and rather reluctantly scooped the blade up with my boot and flung it away.

As soon as the weapon splashed into the water, the night fury's attitude immediately changed. Its eyes dilated slightly and ears perked up. I held out the fish with trembling arms. It opened its mouth. "Huh, toothless?" I questioned. Seconds later a row of sharp teeth rapidly extended from its gums. "Maybe not so toothless," I said rather shocked. It bit the fish in two and swallow both halves at once.

It now looked back to me, I gulped. The dragon approached slowly, almost menacingly. I pushed myself as close to the rock as I could. It was nearly on top of me. "I don't have any more," I lied. All of a sudden the night fury stopped moving and began making a strange noise as if it had something stuck in its throat. Its eyes dilated and it went cross-eyed.

A moment later the back half of the fish was dropped onto my lap. Thoroughly confused I looked up into the night fury's eyes. It was sat up-right on its hind legs and was staring at the fish. Nervously, I pushed myself up straight and glanced between the two a few more times. I realised the night fury wanted reassuring that the fish was harmless. I sighed.

I bit into the fish; It tasted disgusting. "Mmhmm," I mumbled with a mouthful of fish trying to show that it wasn't poisoned. I offered the fish again with another mumble. The dragon just looked at me sarcastically. I groaned and tried to think of a way out of my situation – there wasn't one. So rather reluctantly I swallowed cautiously and almost threw up. It didn't go down the first time so I had to repeat but this time without thinking about it. Thankfully I managed to swallow it all.

I shivered from the taste "Remind me to never do that again," I said lackadaisically. The night fury looked appeased and when presented with the fish, took it without question. I grinned awkwardly up at the dragon. Much to my amazement it tried to copy, with a toothless smile.

It was still sat in place looking down at me with its big green eyes. I put my hand out slowly trying to touch it but, I had pushed my luck. The dragon growled a little and took off. It arced through the air and landed roughly, on the other side of the pit. I saw it shoot the ground with a stream of purple fire. It then curled up on the warmth it had created. It looked annoyed so I thought it was best to leave it alone for awhile.

After an hour of almost admiring the dragon and adding notes to the 'night fury' page in my book, I became curious. I crept quietly over and sat next to it. This was the closest any Viking had ever been to a dragon, without trying to kill that is. I stared in awe at the black scales that helped camouflage it against the night sky.

Minutes passed until the night fury looked up at me dully. I put up a hand to show I didn't mean any harm. It just huffed at me and swung its tail around to cover its face from me. I could see something wasn't quite right with the tail. On the tail, opposite the existing fin, was a rough patch of scales.

"Hmm," I thought hard.

"It must be..." I said quietly. It was something I had heard from Gobber one night, after dragon training.

"It's the wings and the tails you really want, if it can't fly it can't get away... a downed dragon is a dead dragon," I repeated. "You... must have lost a tail fin but, how?" I said more to myself then the dragon. I flipped open my note book and drew the second fin back on the night fury.

I then shuffled forward curiously and tried to touch the scales. At this point the night fury lifted its tail up and looked at me with annoyance. I quickly stood up and walked away, trying to feign innocence.

Once I had sat down on a small rock by the waters edge, I looked over my shoulder. I could see that the night fury had hung itself from upside-down from the branch of a tree by using its tail. I stared at the dragon a bit longer before wrenching my gaze away from it. I glanced back at the notes I had made. I added a few lines about the night fury scales I had found on the floor.

I could tell it was getting late as I could see the sky turning pink. It didn't take me long to finish writing, so I spent the rest of the time thinking and occasionally daydreaming. I looked over at the night fury only to see it still dozing in the tree.

I was bored and didn't want to think about my responsibilities so, I picked up a stick that was laying next to me. I began to use the end of the stick to draw in the dirt. I started to draw the outline of the night fury's head.

Just as I was about to begin on the facial features I felt a presence beside me. My eyes widened slightly as right next to me was the night fury himself. I slowly regained my confidence and continued with my drawing. The dragon seemed pleased, I could hear it cooing quietly as I drew.

I was almost finished when there was an enormous crack from somewhere above me. Before I even had time to look up, the night fury had dived at me suddenly. I braced for the impact.

"Oouf," I groaned as I was thrown a few feet across the pit floor. I rolled to a stop just in time to hear an almighty crunch and a screech.

Where I was only moments ago was a massive pine tree. It must have toppled off the edge of the pit wall on some loose soil. The rock I was sat on only moments ago had been crushed. Next to the rubble of the rock was the night fury but, something wasn't right.

I gasped when I noticed what was wrong; The night fury's tail was caught under the tree. I looked up to its face. It was filled with a mix of terror and anger. I pushed myself to my feet still slightly in shock and questioned "Why did you save me?" I gazed into the dragons wide eyes; I could see it was frightened.

I edged slowly forwards "You have to let me help you," I said trying to calm the dragon down. I received a threatening growl when I got close – it clearly didn't trust me yet. "I'm not going to hurt you," I whispered in an attempt to sooth the dragon; Unfortunately I didn't work, so I had to think of something, and fast.

A minute of thinking later and I settled on an idea. I closed my eyes and turned my head away from the dragon. I slowly extended my arm out. I didn't receive any growling so I kept my hand out. I was showing that I trusted the dragon. It was now up to the night fury to make the decision, Did it trust me?

After what felt like an eternity I felt something push against my hand. It was smooth. I opened my eyes a fraction and looked up to see that the night fury had pressed its nose into my hand. It looked at me with eyes still as wide as dinner plates.

"Right..." I sighed as I began to think of a way to help. Luckily the tree trunk had broken into pieces from the impact. I ran and picked up my shield off the ground. I gave the pine an experimental push only to see that it didn't budge. The night fury watched every move I made.

"Hmm..." I wondered as I scanned the piece of tree trapping the tail "Maybe if I..." I pressed my shield under the log so that it stuck out at an angle. This gave me some leverage. I gathered all my strength and pushed against it. The tree trunk creaked but didn't budge. I tried again and again but I just couldn't move it.

As a last ditch effort to move it I shoved the shield hard out of anger. 2 things happened simultaneously. My shield snapped in half with a loud crack and the tree began to slowly tip off the night fury's tail. I gave one last push against the tree and fell backwards onto the floor with a groan.

Once I had recovered enough to stand up, I could see that the night fury was finally free. I sighed in relief. It still looked a bit shocked so I walked over to my bag and pulled out the salmon.

As a 'thank you' for saving my life, I offered it to the dragon with the statement of "I lied... I did have more." This got me another sarcastic look.

It was getting late and I had to get back to the cove so, rather reluctantly I got up, collected my stuff and started towards the exit. I looked back to see the night fury looking at me; I could tell he was confused. "I'll come back tomorrow, I promise," I assured the dragon. He just stared blankly at me as I waved and began the climb up the path out.

After I was out and a decent distance away from the pit I began thinking. "Did I really just promise something... to a dragon?" I said with a small shrug.

When I pushed through the last layers of leaves I gave a sigh, the cave was finally in sight and I could rest soon. The sun had set barely five minutes ago but there was already a bitter cold wind sweeping into the cove. I quickly made my way into the shelter of my cave and lit a fire.

It wasn't long before the cave was full of the smell of sizzling fish. As it was cooking I looked back to the night fury page in my note book. "What am I going to do?" I questioned pointing to the left tail fin. I tapped the page and thought hard.

It took until I had eaten half of the fish before I had came up with a terrible idea of building a tail fin. I gave it some thought as I didn't have any better ideas.

As soon as I was done eating I flicked my book open to a new page and sketched a rough copy of the original fin. I then glanced at the tools and materials that I had on hand and changed the design to comply with their strengths and weaknesses. I filled the page with labels so I wouldn't forget.

After I finished I stretched and yawned, "Time to sleep I think," I said tiredly. I laid down and pulled the sail over myself. As my day had been so busy it didn't take long to drift off into sleep.

 **Thanks for reading, please review. I feel like I rushed it a bit towards the end. Do you think the meeting toothless part was done right? I'd like to know. Apologies for taking a long time to upload. I don't know when the next chapter will be ready, hopefully soon, but I can't make any promises. Anyway, until next time, Goodbye.**


	9. Building Excitement

**I haven't given up quite yet, there still some life left in me.**

Building Excitement

I started my morning routine in the same way I had for every other loathsome day on this 'deserted' island. I was getting myself ready for the day ahead when I suddenly remembered the importance of the day. The thing that had reminded me was a pile of dirty cloth, I recalled my plan I had created the night before – it was a construction project.

"Today is going to be a busy day," I exclaimed excitedly "This is something I can actually do."

Before I strapped my axe to my back I looked it over almost admiringly. I had picked it up off of one of the old ships. Even though the blade was haphazard and jagged in places, as if it was made by a carefree blacksmith, I still liked it. For some reason it reminded me of Berk; I slipped into a daydream, my thoughts drawn towards Berk.

I slapped myself out of the daydream when my imagination began to wonder about Astrid.

"I should dream smaller," I sighed to myself.

After checking I had everything three times over, I left the cave I now call home. Unfortunately I didn't immediately turn toward the forest, as much as I wanted to. Instead I walked towards the beach. I was going to check the net I had left out just after I got back to the cove.

I didn't have my hopes up as the water around the island was shallow. But there was a place deeper then rest and, that is where I was walking. It was the same dead end I had come across when exploring for the first time. There was a drop off into the sea at the end of the beach and it was the best chance I had of getting fish. "Apart from my dam, of course," I whispered almost gloating.

I arrived a minute later at the end of the beach. I sighed with relief when I saw that the ropes connected to the net were still where I left them; They were trapped under a rock I had placed to stop the net from slipping away into the icy depths. "I'm glad that worked," I thought aloud.

Giving the net an experimental tug I realised that it wasn't going to be as easy as I first thought. I heaved the rock out of the way and grabbed the ropes. I pulled again. The net slowly began to move but, it wasn't fast enough.

"There is no way I am lifting this out on my own, unless..." I started to explain before tailing off, "Hmm..." I looked around for anything that could help. Then I remembered the cranes back on Berk that helped load ships, "How could I forget," I said sarcastically; I had spent hours staring at those plans. "If I could only find something..." I muttered.

I glanced around with this new thought in mind. I scanned the cliff face until I spotted an outcropping of rock that might support the weight. "Well, there is only one way to find out..." I declared.

So I tied the ropes into one knot and threw it over the outcropping. I gave a small whoop of celebration when it landed exactly where it was supposed to. Unfortunately it didn't quite go far enough and was now dangling out of reach. I tried jumping for it but, my attempts were unsuccessful. Luckily after a few too many minutes I was able to knock it down with the help of my axe for extra reach.

Once it was down I reached up as high as I could and pulled myself up and clung onto the ropes. The ropes then began to slide. I started to go down but, the net started to rise from the water. "Just as I thought would happen," I said, continuing the cycle of pulling myself up. It only took a matter of minutes before the net was on dry land.

Much to my amazement the was no less than twenty fish. "I thought it would work but, never did I think it would work this well," I said still slightly surprised.

Once I had recovered I piled all the fish into my old bag. Then I reset the net in the water.

I walked back to the cave and dropped off a few fish to eat later. Briefly I checked my sundial "Oh good," I said cheerfully upon noticing the time. I still had most of the day left.

I gathered my things and set off at a brisk pace towards the forest. My destination was set in my head and I had no intention of getting sidetracked, although my history on Berk suggested otherwise. I had very important work to attend to. In my cave in the cove, I had no chance whatsoever of being able to build a working dragon fin replica. I didn't even have my basic tools, "stupid ocean," I muttered, still annoyed over being shipwrecked.

So I was heading to the only place on this whole stinking island that had tools. It was not a place I wanted to return to; I shivered at the thought of it but, as it was my single chance of getting off this island alive... I'd begrudgingly take it.

The journey wasn't short. I had to push though dense foliage with foot high brambles biting at my shins. Unfortunately this was the quickest route and I didn't have the luxury of time. I didn't know how long a dragon could go without a proper meal.

"I-I still can't believe this is actually happening," I stuttered to myself as I finally broke free from the course bushes and walked across a small grassy plain.

This miniature knoll led to a cliff edge which overlooked my destination – the huge fleet of ships.

Slowly I worked my way down the almost unscaleable rock face. It took me the best part of an hour before I was finally atop one of the ships. I let out a sigh of relief as the hardest work was now out of the way.

Wiping sweat off my forehead I began my search for a work room. My idea was that for a fleet this indescribably large there must be a room full of tools for making 'on the go' repairs and updates. I scanned the vast wooden decks of the surrounding ships for something that resembled such a room. The amount of mess upon the decks made it hard to spot any important defining features. As well as weapons there were crates strewn all across the ships, some of which had burst open spilling their contents over the decks.

It took me a few minutes but I finally spotted something that looked worth checking out. Something was odd about one of the ships near the rear of the fleet; It was a relatively small ship but it had pontoons fixed to the side, with logs as large as some of the greatest pine trees on berk, like some of the flagships in the fleet.

Just one of the pontoons was probably bigger than the largest ships in Berk's navy. This thought alone made me admire the craftsmanship that must have went into the creation of this navy. In my many hours alone in the forge on Berk I had toyed with the idea of larger ships. I even went as far as to draw out plans for a flagship but, all my calculations had led me to believe that huge ships were inherently unstable.

"Why didn't I think of pontoons for stability," I grumbled quietly to myself.

Another unusual aspect of the ship was that the lower stern was entirely made of metal. The metal still looked as clean as freshly sharpened sword and wasn't rusting where it met the water, this was unusual to say the least so I made a mental note to study it closer if I had time.

I made my way over to my goal by leaping between the other ships. About half way to my destination I slipped up mid jump and didn't have the distance to safely land on the deck; This resulted in me slamming into the side of the next ship, completely knocking the wind out of me. The only thing stopping me from plunging into the freezing water was a broken handrail which I was clung onto dearly with one hand.

After a few deep wheezing breaths I collected my thoughts. With great effort and creaking from the rail I began to swing my bag back and forth and back and forth until, I finally released it at the highest point of the last swing. It flew up in an arc and landed with an audible crunch safely upon the deck.

Next came the arduous task of pulling myself up. My muscles were already screaming for release but I didn't care. It took all my will power to push the thoughts of giving up aside.

After a minute of grunting I managed to clamp my fingers over the edge of the deck. All I needed now was one last good pull, so I mustered my remaining strength and focused hard. The only thing that mattered was not plunging into the depths of the freezing ocean. I heaved one last time and swung one leg up onto the deck, from there I dragged the rest of my body up onto the safety of the wooden floor. I lay there panting for a few minutes as I recovered.

Once I had got back to my feet I pushed onwards, crossing the rest of the ships with no problems. Only when I tumbled onto the last ship did I realise that there were no more decks to navigate, "I-I made it," I tiredly cheered, slightly surprised at my success.

I straightened up and scanned the deck for an entrance. I was stood at the bow of the ship and rather that weapons being strewn over the floor there were piles of metal; I hadn't seen anything like some of these metals before, one of them appeared to be what the central hull was made from. I made sure to stash a small chunk of each unknown metal for later testing. However for now I would have to forget the strange metals, I couldn't let myself get distracted from my primary task – Saving the night fury.

"That still sounds odd," I muttered, "even to me but, as its the only option I've got I guess I'll have to take it," I continued "and I have to save that drag- Ah ha," at that moment I had spotted what I had been looking for. Directly in the centre of the ship, buried under a pile of crates and scrap metal was a trapdoor.

I ran over and quickly picked up a box excited to get started. I instantly regretted it as I fell face first into the junk heap with a yelp of pain. It appeared the crates were full of metal too.

"That's going to bruise," I groaned into the floor and pushed myself up with the assistance of the crate that had caused my downfall.

I checked myself over and, happy that no injury had been sustained I shuffled back over to the boxes. This time I was more careful when picking them up. When moving the fourth crate I realised one of the panels was broken open on the side and some weird green gems were pouring out. Picking one up and examining it I noticed how pure these gems were, they had next to no imperfections, with a shrug I dropped one into my bag.

With a last push and a scraping of metal I managed to completely clear the hatch. I heaved it open and let it drop onto the deck with a heavy clunk. From up on the deck I could barely make out the stairs leading down. With a surge of adventurous spirit I plunged into the depths of the ship. One step at a time I disappeared below the deck.

Once my eyes had adjusted I glanced around. Surrounding me were tens of blueprints some of weapons others of ships I stared around at them all, "I'm definitely in the right place," I stated shaking myself out of my thoughts. I walked past the wall of blueprints towards the stern of the ship. At this point the hull widened out and there was a thick iron door blocking my sight. I tugged on the door trying to get it to move.

After a particularly strong pull it began to swing forward with a terrible screeching of iron, making me wince. I shook off the noise and walked through the door.

What was on the other side of the door made me the happiest I had been in awhile, so happy that I let out a whoop of joy. It was a forge, not as grand as Berk's but it was also on a ship. Directly opposite me was a workbench with huge variety of tools hung on the wall above it. To my left was the forge, like Berk's it was made of stone, the only problem being it wasn't lit. Not that I had expected it to be and, as forges are extremely hard to get up to a high enough temperature to melt metal, I wouldn't be getting it started anytime soon.

"I'll really have to pull out all the stops to relight this old thing," I begrudgingly admitted, "But Hel, these tools will be useful," I continued cheerfully examining the hanging tools.

I pulled my old bag up onto the workbench with a heavy thud. There was something important in this bag, the only reason I had trekked out this far, my design plan. "Let's hope it's still intact," I said plunging my hand into the bag. I moved it around the bag like a frantic spider searching for the rough leather cover of my notebook. I managed to find it under a small bit of splintered wood.

Flicking the notebook open to the design I began to read my previous plan, occasionally letting out a "Hmm..." as I thought. Glancing around I was happy to see that every tool I would need was on the wall in front of me. The next thing I had to check was the available materials, I began scanning the room and opening boxes.

After a few minutes of search I had found all I could; There was plenty of leather and an ample supply of wood which could be sawn to size. The difficulty was finding metal because it had to already be formed to the correct size as I didn't have a lit forge that I could use to reshape it. Luckily in a crate of scrap metal there happened to be a few long thin strips obviously cut off from a larger sheet.

"Just what I was looking for," I said dumping all the pieces on the edge of the workbench. Pleased with the amassed pile of resources I interlocked my fingers in front of myself and pushed them forwards resulting in some satisfying clicks.

Shortly after I began working on the dragon fin. I had to strategically place the steel as I knew I couldn't use too much, if I did it would weigh down the fin making it useless. I therefore decided to use one strip as the central beam and another for the longest pole supporting the 'fin shape'; All the others would have to be made of wood, so I got to work sawing out pieces from a larger plank. "This I going to take awhile," I dead-panned to the blunt saw.

After I had all the parts, I laid them on top of the leather. Pulling a sharp knife off the tool rack I traced an outline of the fin into the leather. I paused, "What would my Dad think if he saw me saving a dragon?" I said glumly knowing that they would never believe my story. I shook the though off and cut the shape out with a proper pair of fabric scissors; Once complete I cut out a second almost identical piece from another sheet of leather.

"Time for the fun part," I said putting all the pieces in there respective places. The metal and wood was placed in-between the two layers of leather forming the design of the fin. I now pulled out a large sewing needle I had found in a draw and a spool of mystery thread, "I hope it's strong enough," I worried as I began sewing my plan together. Bit by bit it was coming into being.

Almost an hour later I jumped up from the chair with a small cheer – it was finally finished. Now, it wasn't perfect, there were scruffy edges all over the leather and the straps were hastily sewn on. The biggest problem was the fact that the fin couldn't be tucked in or spread out like toothless' remaining fin, this wasn't my fault as I had no metal hinges to work with.

"But you know what? For the first dragon prosthetic, it's not bad," I said contentedly to no one in particular.

I gave a stretch and hoisted the bag off the floor. I shuffled towards the large iron door and pushed it open with another loud screech. I slowly plodded up the stairs and noticed that I hadn't left the darkness behind me, for a brief moment I was completely disorientated and I spun on the spot.

With my head spinning I sat down and took a few deep breaths until the world righted itself. I looked around and noticed the smallest slither of blood red light on the horizon – the sun must have set only minutes previously. It was not unusual for the days on Berk to be this short but it did mean I had no chance of finding my way back to the cove.

"I guess I'll have to camp-out here," I sighed and began looking around, "It's no use without light," I continued to myself. I walked around the edge of the ship, feeling my way with the railings. I came across exactly what I was looking for – a torch bracket. Moving my hands up I felt for the torch inside; I grasped it and pulled it out of its holder.

I fumbled in the darkness with my flint and steel for a minute before finally the torch burst into life. It provided the much needed light and warmth that I needed.

I knew that there was no way I was getting off this ship in the dark of night, there were too many hazards, "It was hard enough getting here when I could see," I scoffed. My only hope was to wander about aimlessly until I found the sleeping quarters, so I set off into the surrounding darkness, battling its grasp with the light from my torch.

The amount of mess on the ship almost caused me to trip but every time I caught myself right before I fell.

It felt like an eternity of blind stumbling had past until, I finally burst through a door and much to my relief saw a row of beds. With a sigh I collapsed onto the nearest one, "Where have you been all this time," I questioned rhetorically. With a little groan I pushed myself up and began lighting the other torches.

When this was done I made sure that nothing would get though the door, not only did it have the original wooden bar 'lock' across it; It now also had a bed pushed up against it, "That should keep me safe," I said with a hint of worry in my voice.

I finally climbed back into the soft bed, pulled the covers over myself and was thinking about the exciting prospects that tomorrow would bring as, at last I drifted off into the most comfortable sleep I had had in a long time.

 **Hope you enjoyed. I know I've been gone a long time, I just haven't really had the motivation to write. If you could spare a second to give any feedback that'd be amazing and might hopefully motivate me to write some more. I have another chapter in the works and a sort of direction so who really nose. Anyway, until the next time.**


	10. Unforgiving Skys

**Thank you all for the response to the last chapter, it has really kept me going.**

Unforgiving Skys

There was a loud thump and a creaking of wood, I awoke with a start. Drifting though the ships windows was a peculiar sound, a cross between a strongly rustling forest and waves crashing upon the sea stacks back a Berk. It was an odd uneven noise that caught my curiosity. I slowly climbed on top of the bed to get a view out the nearest window.

What I saw nearly made shout and fall off the bed. It was a good thing I didn't as a few moments later the ship rocked violently and a humongous blood-red Monstrous Nightmare launched into the sky. I was almost knocked to the floor for a second time as the boat swayed. "Well that explains the thump," I grumbled.

Once I had steadied myself, I again peered out the small window but this time got a better look at what had shocked me; Flying across the island was the biggest flock of dragons I had ever seen, it must have been five times the size of the raids on Berk. There were hundreds of them, some of which I had only seen drawings of. I cowered away from the window, I was pretty sure I trusted Toothless not to kill me but I wasn't ready to extend that luxury to other dragons quite yet. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and began to consider my situation.

"Come on Hiccup think, THINK!" I burst out after a few minutes. There was no other way except to walk out on to the deck with all the dragons around. "But that's a terrible plan," I groaned into the pillow, "But I promised I would get back to the Night Fury for yesterday," I argued with myself. Any normal Viking would ditch the dragon but I was different, I resonated with Toothless. Toothless being trapped on the ground while all the other dragons fly over must be so humiliating for him; The thought of this reminded me of me, I had felt humiliation more times than I could count.

"I won't let you go though this alone," I whispered. With a deep breath I pushed myself up and began moving the junk blocking the door.

It didn't take long to clear my way after I set to it, in no time at all I was pushing the hatch up. It fell open with a loud crash of metal. I winced and glanced around, fortunately none of the dragons seemed to have heard "Phew," I sighed.

I scrambled out onto the deck and heaved my bag up after. Trying to keep low, I slowly made my way across the ship. At the edge I hopped across to a smaller frigate with a small crunch.

Making my way across the rest of the fleet was strenuous and uneventful until I reached the second from last ship. I had a particularly bad landing had tumbled into a stack of weapons with a crash. Luckily I was fine however, the noise seemed to echo on forever. I winced and slowly stood up brushing myself off, "There goes my subtlety," I dead-panned.

A second later there was a huge thud on the ship behind me. I gradually turned around to see the same blood-red Monstrous Nightmare from earlier. It towered over me casting an enormous shadow.

Normally, being Hiccup, I would have froze on the spot but this time was different. Instinct kicked in and I bolted for the last ship the dragon right behind. The wooden deck of the ship buckled and splintered under the weight of the dragon; This gave me the advantage, I was quicker and lighter on my feet and wasn't in risk of splitting the ship in two. As I reached the end I heard a particularly large crash from behind, the Nightmare had fallen through the floor and almost through the hull too. With the few seconds this gained me I scrabbled up onto the next deck not daring to look back.

I sprinted along the length of the ship and made a bold leap of faith off the bow. I fell with a yell. My feet collided with the earth sinking in a few centimetres. My ordeal wasn't over yet. I freed my legs and picked up the pace again stumbling a few times over the rocks. Blood thundered though my veins as I ran towards the forest.

The last thing between me and safety was the towering monolith like cliffs. The ascent was treacherous enough as it was, let alone climbing it while being chased by a dragon. I pulled my axe into one hand and began to climb.

As I reached the halfway mark I heard an almighty roar from below signalling that the Nightmare had managed to free itself. "Damn, I was hoping that would hold you up longer," I complained gritting my teeth. There was no way I was beating this dragon to the top, it had gained on me too fast. Instead I decided to hold my ground and wait. I could hear it coming closer. I tightened my grip on my axe handle and prepared myself "It's now or never I muttered." It's red scaled head came into view and I enacted my plan. I swung my axe with all my might, it whirled through the air, the flat side collided with the Monstrous Nightmare's head with a sickening crunch.

I did not really want to injure the dragon but, I knew if I were to daze it then I'd have to swing hard. It seemed to do the trick, the dragon fell away from the cliff completely taken aback by the force. The Nightmare crashed to the floor as I turned to keep climbing. It wouldn't stay down for long, it would be back for revenge soon, so I didn't stick around.

My legs burned as I broke through the foliage into the trees. I slowed enough to glance backward; relief washed over me as I saw it was too big to fit between the tall pines, it got frustrated and shot a fireball. I skidded to a halt narrowly dodging the flaming magma, my sides hurt from running but I was still in one piece.

After recovering I set off toward the pit with the odd sensation of being watched. I trekked through the forest feeling highly uncomfortable and jumping every time I stepped on a twig. "Calm down, calm down," I muttered trying to reassure myself.

When I was close to the entrance to the cove I heard a snap that was most definitely not me. I spun on the spot and squinted into the gloom. I gasped and took a step back; Out of the darkness came a Deadly Nadder, azure blue and yellow. "It's just not my day," I said sarcastically taking another step back.

"Ok, you've had your fun now could you please leave?" I reasoned, it just let out a loud squawk and came closer, "It was worth a try," I was so tired from escaping the Monstrous Nightmare that I had nothing left. There was a woosh and I jumped back as a spine sunk into the ground where my feet had been only seconds ago. I pulled my axe up and clumsily deflected a few more. I yelled and stumbled back dangerously close to the edge of the pit.

The Nadder took a step forward and opened its mouth preparing to fire. I braced for the inevitable pain closing my eyes tight. I could hear an odd noise that I hadn't heard since I was back on Berk, there was a whistling growing from behind me...

Before I could look round the air roared and an intense heat shot past my right arm. It impacted the Nadder with an almighty BOOM. It simultaneously knocked the dragon off its feet and blasted me backwards over the edge.

I was falling, down, down into the pit. A darkness surrounded me, constricting me, blocking all light, was this the end?

With a bone rattling thud my fall was brought to a sudden halt. I was winded from the impact but nothing seemed broken. I rolled over and light flooded my eyes I squinted and blinked, "What?" I said confused. My questions were silenced by a groan behind me. It was the Night Fury, he must have jumped to save me, "T-thanks," I said still slightly winded and speechless.

I gave the dragon a little scratch before helping him back to his feet, he still seemed rather dazed. "You must be starving," I said trying to bring the dragon back around. I pulled out a fish and began waving it under Toothless' nose.

That did it, his eyes widened and he snapped up the fish, "Back to normal I see," I teased before chucking a few fish forwards. They were gone within seconds. The dragon walked over and laid down next to me, I absent-mindedly scratched him resulting in an almost cat like purr.

After a while I broke the silence, "How about a name?" I threw out, the dragon looked up tiredly, "I can't keep calling you 'dragon', can I." I sunk back into thoughts while the dragon rolled his eyes. Recently I had been referring to him as Toothless in my thoughts, it was the first thing I had really learned about him and, it had just kind of stuck.

"How about it then bud?" I said to the dragon, "I'll call you Toothless."

'Toothless' stared blankly back at me and then did toothless grin imitating a smile, I gave a little chuckle at the sight. "Then it's settled," I said feeling as if the dragon hadn't understood anything I had just announced. It was a weird feeling to be sat this close to a dragon and actually feel safe.

I stretched and stood up gazing at Toothless admiringly, he really was something else. Toothless yawned and got up, he looked annoyed. He appeared to be trying to scratch a spot on his neck but could reach and was getting frustrated. "Woah, woah, woah, calm down there bud," I said loudly running up to intervene "I'll get it, just settle down."

I began scratching, the scales were a foreign texture and felt rough against my fingers. Toothless seemed to be enjoying himself and was leaning into the touch. I moved my scratching down until I hit a point on the underside of his neck which caused Toothless to flop to the floor with a thump. At first I though something was wrong but I quickly realised that he was in a state of bliss.

I stared down at my hands amazed by their power "Incredible," I whispered.

Once Toothless had recovered I pulled the crafted tail fin out and shuffled around behind the dragon. This caught his attention and he began watching; As I approached his tail he growled and when I reached out it was quickly pulled away with a small huff. "Come on bud, you've got to work with me," I reasoned. The only response I got was another huff and a turned up nose.

"How about this then," I said after a moments thought, I tipped the remaining fish into a pile. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Toothless look over. I could see the gears turning in Toothless' head he first glanced to the fish, then to the fin, and back again. He repeated the movement a few times before seeming to make up his mind. "Go for it, I'm not stopping you," I gestured to the pile. The dragon rather reluctantly dragged himself over to the fish. Upon seeing this I spoke "That wasn't so hard now was it," which earned me yet another huff.

I heaved the construction up and walked it over to Toothless' tail and laid it on the ground. When I slid it right next to the tail, the tail drifted off to the left. This put everything out of place, and by the time I had realigned it Toothless 'casually' swung it some more. I grumbled and lined it up once more. "Just... stop... moving... your tail," I said between swings.

"Ah ha, gotcha," I whooped as I pinned the tail under myself. I though I heard something that sounded like a snicker coming from behind me. Finally I began to attach the fin as I sat on the dragons tail, pulling the straps over and tying them in place.

Once I had finished securing it I sat back and admired my handy work, "It's not bad, could use a bit of work here and there..." I mumbled tailing of into thoughts. I heard Toothless make a noise behind me but took no notice of it.

Seconds later I regretted not turning around as I would have seen Toothless Toothless unfurling his huge bat-like wings. I was brought abruptly back to reality when Toothless took to the air, dragging me with him.

"Oh Gods, oh no," I yelled as Toothless began to climb. As we reached half way up the pit's walls our ascent started to slow and Toothless let out a screech. I opened one eye and immediately saw the problem – the constructed fin was flapping feebly. I reached out as fast as I dared and fully deployed the fin.

Almost instantaneously it caught the wind. Toothless had noticed and doubled his efforts. We barely avoided the edge of the pit and broke out of the tree tops into the blazing sunlight. As Toothless climbed I realised I could see the whole island, it was a stunning and beautiful sight, all thought were pushed from my mind. On the far side I could see the beach and the cove, they looked so small from the air.

After taking my fill I pulled hard on the fin moving up slightly, we began a long banking turn circling over the island. I dipped it slightly and Toothless began to dive. I had never realised how important a dragons tail was and how fragile it could be.

We levelled out and flew across the top of the fleet, speeding out through the hole in the towering cliffs toward the sea. I pulled at the fin again to chance our heading so that we followed the coast. I let out a joyous cheer as we flew, "I can't believe I actually did it," all my problems seemed to melt away as we flew, nothing could get me down.

As we had been flying the wind had picked up and as I flared the tail to begin an ascent a particularly strong gust had slammed Toothless and I. It must have caught the fin in the wrong place because as it hit there was a nasty crunching of wood, "Uhh, that's probably not good," I worried.

A moment later there was a splintering noise and the fin started to disintegrate, "T-toothless get us inland now!" I yelled to the dragon. I was doing all I could to hold it in place but, without the supports the leather began to tear. I could feel as Toothless began to lose altitude. We finally crossed back over land, "everything will be fine, everything will be fine" I repeated to myself.

I was still trying to calm myself and hadn't noticed that my note book was slipping out of the inside pocket of my fleece until it was too late. "Nooo," I shouted as I made a wild grab for the book with both hands. I missed. I felt a heart wrenching twang as I watched it sail away and land deep within the forest, that book had been everything to me it.

My note book was quickly driven from my mind as Toothless nose dived towards the ground flailing his wings. I hastily flung the fin open again but, this was finally too much for the poor construction. There was a dreaded ripping noise as it tore completely off. I watched in horror as it blew away. My heart jumped in my throat as we started to plummet.

Toothless panicked and flailed his wings. I clung on for dear life not daring to open my eyes as the wind whistled past my ears. The dragon screeched. I could hear the crunch of leaves as they were battered out of the way. Branches snagged on my clothes as we fell I knew the inevitable was rushing up fast. We both slammed into the ground at tremendous speed, I passed out before I had even stopped rolling...

By the time I regained consciousness it was dark. I took a deep wheezing breath and coughed. My head spun as I sat up, everything hurt. Upon looking around I could see the path Toothless had carved in the ground and trees. Black scales littered the ground around the site however there was not a Night Fury in sight. "Just g-great," I coughed, "D-ditch me why don't you," I winced sounding rather hurt.

I pushed myself to my feet and leant against a tree. I groaned and mulled over my options. "The cove is my only option," I said gloomily setting off. The laborious walk gave me plenty of time to think, and the more I thought the more I convinced myself that the dragon was only using me to escape. "I thought you were my friend," I said glumly letting out a sigh, "...my only friend..." I tailed off into more depressing thoughts.

The rest of the journey was completed in silence. My hope was starting to burn out like a candle running out of wax. Toothless had been the light at the end of a very long tunnel.

By the time I finally hobbled into my cave I was an overflowing emotional mess. I lit the fire, put a fish to cook, and flopped down onto the floor exhausted and aching. I sunk back into my own world staring straight through the fish, eyes not in focus. "Maybe everyone's right, I am useless," I thought, "I just can't do anything right..."

I let out a shout of anger and kicked the salmon that had been cooking over the fire. I watched in amusement as it arced through the air and landed with a satisfying slap on the other side of the cove. "That actually helped a little," I mumbled before putting another fish on to cook – I still needed to eat.

"At least it's a beautiful night," I sighed to myself gazing upwards into the starry sky. It was the clearest I had seen it in a while and the air had a cold crisp feel to it, "Winter's coming..." I started, "If they don't find me soon..." I could not bring myself to finish the sentence. I laid back and pulled the sail over myself like I had done so many other nights, except this time it was with a empty heart that I drifted into a restless sleep.

 **I was going for a more feels chapter, trying to create the bond between the two. Do you think I did it right? I don't know, I've still got a lot to learn. It would mean the world if you could tell me what you thought of this chapter. I'll try to get started on the next chapter soon as I can. Anyway, until the next time.**


	11. The Sky's Past

**Maybe I'm getting the hang of this whole writing thing. Thank you for the great ideas, I hope this chapter lives up to them.**

The Sky's Past

I was woken early by a deep rumble of distant thunder. Rubbing my eyes I pushed myself up and looked out; It was pouring with rain, not enough to flood but just enough to be unpleasant. I could hear it hammering at the tall cliffs. It reflected how I felt, in one word – miserable. Everything felt so insignificant now that my last resort had failed.

I laid back down, staring at the ceiling. It didn't take long before I slipped into thoughts. I really did not feel like doing anything except wallow in self pity. "W-why did you have to leave," I sighed to myself, "I thought you were my friend... my only friend." I felt a wave of loneliness wash over me. It was unlike any time on Berk, when I was ditched by the other kids it felt bad but, never had I ever felt so alone in the world. I was balancing dangerously on the edge of the deep, dark chasm that was hopelessness.

To bring me back to reality was my stomach, it rumbled loudly. With a sigh I climbed to my feet and began packing. I was going to the dam to collect some fish. I could've walked the short distance to the beach and to my net but I was still holding onto a fleck of hope that I would find Toothless on the way, not that I would tell anyone that. "It's not like I have anyone TO tell," I grumbled as I prepared.

I was finally ready to leave after dragging my heels for as long as possible. Living on Berk meant I was used to the rain and the cold but, that didn't make stepping out of the safety of the cave any nicer.

With my shield held over my head I bolted for the cover of the forest. The water splashed at my feet as I ran. It only took a minute before I entered the relatively sheltered shrubbery. The tall pines must have been deflecting the worst of the rain as the ground did not resemble a bog. There was still plenty of large drops of rain falling from the leaves; I learned this the hard was when one of the drops landed on my recently uncovered head. I let out a noise of disgust and re-covered myself with the shield.

Not too long later I glanced up and realised where I was. I had stumbled across the place where Toothless and I had crashed. "The broken trees are a real give away," I said sarcastically. It seemed odd the see it in the light. I was still battered up from the accident and I hadn't even taken the brunt of the force. This thought made me glance over to the channel that was carved into the ground when Toothless impacted. In this new light I could now see some faint tracks leading away from the site. They were almost washed away without the cover of the trees but they were most definitely Night Fury tracks.

I followed them for a few steps. The tracks appeared uneven as if the dragon was struggling. At this point I felt a small pang of guilt for Toothless. He had clearly been in some pain, and I had stormed off in my shock assuming that he had abandoned me. "Well it turns out I abandoned you," I mumbled sadly. I ran my hand over a pine, that the Night Fury had stumbled into, worried about his well-being.

The footprints disappeared off into the bushes and I could no make them out or follow them. "Damn it, damn it, damn it," I muttered kicking a rock in frustration "I knew I should've taken those tracking classes." Part of me wanted to blindly search the forest but, in my heart, I knew Toothless was long gone. Letting out a long sigh I turned my back on the place. As much as I didn't want to, I still needed to get to the dam.

It didn't take long to reach the river, I was getting too familiar with the island. I followed it upstream towards my dam. Occasionally I kicked a rock in frustration over leaving Toothless. The splashes they created didn't bother me, I was already soaked through.

As I approached the clearing I heard some rustling over the rain so I crouched down. Trying not to make any noise I crept forwards. As I got closer I could hear some strange scratching. At first I thought it might be Toothless and I almost jumped to my feet.

A moment later I was glad I didn't as when I pushed the last layers of leaves apart I saw something that was most definitely not Toothless. In fact it was the same azure blue Nadder from before. It must have decided to settle here when the flock flew over. I let out an involuntary gasp when I saw it and clasped a hand to my mouth. Before it had time to look around I had dived out of sight.

When I finally deemed it safe to get up I peered cautiously though the foliage. The dragon had gone back to drinking. "It's probably eaten all the fish..." I thought, "that's probably what attracted it here." I sat silently in the bushes thinking of a plan. There was no way I was going to scare it away, I'd have to think very carefully about this. The only useful teaching I could remember about the Deadly Nadder was the fact it had a blind spot, apart from the fact it was extremely dangerous and should be killed on site.

The Nadder showed no sign of moving so I would have to approach it. Luckily the clearing wasn't too large and I was already quite close to the almost content looking dragon. I took a deep breath a left the safety of the trees. I crept slowly forward until I fully emerged from the shrubbery. Its head tilted subtly as if it was listening intensely. I had noticed the change, the dragon had completely frozen, I knew the game was up. Hiding behind my shield I edged towards the Nadder.

It had definitely heard me now and had turned to face me like I expected. I was now hidden in its blind spot and could hear it sniffing at the air; It could surely sense me so, before it got the chance to figure it out I jumped around the side of its head. It let out a squawk and its eyes widened in shock as it tried to focus on me.

This sudden leap seemed to startle the dragon and gave me a few precious seconds to act. I began scratching the Nadder's neck where the blue scales faded into white, "Come on, come on, come on," I whispered hurriedly as I worked. To any other Viking it would seem like I had gone insane. I would have thought I was mad too if I had not seen what happened to Toothless, and this is what I was aiming for.

After a few frantic seconds I finally reached the sweet spot. There was a squawk, a ground shaking thud and silence... mostly. The dragon had collapsed to the floor and started releasing a purring noise. "You have no idea how glad I am that worked," I said to the dragon sounding rather relieved. I studied the dragon before me still quite amazed that my plan worked. "Maybe you are all so bad," I wondered aloud.

I lent down and picked up a handful of scales. They were still shiny and clean. Glancing over to the Nadder I realised that all the scales were pristine, this dragon must from a proud species that likes to keep itself perfect. At this point I went to grab my book to write all this new information down but, I was met with an empty pocket and my heart dropped. All the memories came rushing back, I had forgotten about the crash, it had been buried under exhilaration. "Ah," I said, my face dropping slightly, "I can't let that keep me down, what is done, is done."

I learnt as much about the Nadder as I felt safe to. I wandered over to the dam to see what was left of it. Much to my disbelief there was still a fish caught in the remains of the dam. With a quick glance at the dragon I picked it up and stuffed it into my bag. I knew that the dragon would recover soon, so I made my exit back towards the cove.

The trek back was wet and uneventful, the rain had not let off.

When I got back to the cove I collected a few more fish from the net on the beach and set about lighting the fire in the cave. It was soon filled with the salty smell of cooking fish, my mouth was watering at the thought, I hadn't yet eaten. I stored the rest away for another day and dried myself by the fire. Its warmth was comforting and surrounded me like a blanket. It did not take me long to eat the fish once they were cooked. I sat contently staring out into the storm clouds; They did seem slightly lighter, as if they were fighting a losing battle with the Sun.

It pained me to think about Toothless but I had not completely given up on him. It did not take me long to reach this conclusion. "He is my friend," I said cementing the idea, "And if there is one place I'll find him, it'll be where we first met." With this in mind I began packing for the second time.

Once I was ready I set off into the marginally brighter day. I still felt awful about the whole situation and could not believe that I had been so boarheaded. It had almost been a full day since I last saw Toothless and I was slowly becoming more worried as time passed. I knew that he was at his most vulnerable but, if he couldn't find me then what chance did I have of tracking him down. I shook my head and kept walking.

My journey across the island was mostly uneventful. I pushed the last layer of leaves apart with my eyes closed, whispering "Please be there, please be there." I opened one eye the smallest amount to reveal the significant lack of a Night Fury, "Well there goes that plan," I dead-panned. I slumped against the nearest tree and thought. The only logical idea was to wait here and hope Toothless was clever enough to come back. It didn't fill me with confidence, only hopelessness as there was nothing I could do but wait.

To pass the time I created a small fire near the edge of the pit. It was close enough that I could gaze down into the pit and reminisce about our friendship however short it may have been. The rain had mostly stopped and I could sit without any cover.

It did not take long before I got bored of sitting alone with my thoughts. I began sketching some drawings onto the sides of nearby rocks. At first they were of Toothless but, as my mind slowly drifted I started drawing the isles of Berk and the residence, my Dad, Astrid, Gobber, and Astrid to name a few.

Eventually I dragged myself back to the fire to cook. I had already spent a few hours at this place but the comforting warmth really helped to calm my worried nerves. As I ate the Sun finally dropped below the clouds and filled the sky with colour. It painted the undersides of the now fluffy clouds a fierce and beautiful orange. This had to be the best sunset I had ever laid my eyes upon. I stared in awe taking in the sight. The sides of my mouth crept into a proper smile for the first time in what felt like forever.

My smile quickly dropped when I heard some distant rustling. I jumped to my feet and readied my axe in preparation, "Not this time," I whispered. There was nothing subtle about the animal making the noise; It sounded as if it were running full pelt and to make matters worse it was heading straight for me. I tightened my grip on my axe handle.

A large dark mass leapt from the forest and knocked me to the floor. It had taken me completely by surprise and I could do nothing to stop it. When I finally realised I wasn't being eaten I cracked open my eyes a slither to reveal, "Toothless!?" I said both shocked and relieved. I hugged the dragon around the neck as he pulled me to my feet. The dragons scales glistened in the evening light.

"I'm so sor..." I started before being silenced by Toothless, "What's wrong bud?" I questioned as he repeatedly nudged me. He looked up and opened his mouth. Out fell a slightly battered and very slimy notebook. I stood in shock, "I-is this where you've been all this time?" to which the dragon nodded, "W-wow, thanks, I thought I'd never see it again..." I tailed off. Even after I left him, he still decided to find my notebook for me. I had never felt so happy and so apologetic before.

Once I recovered I began scratching Toothless. Everything in the world felt the right way up again, now that I had my friend back; The book was an added bonus, which was left to dry next the fire as I played with Toothless. He seem just as glad to be back as I was. I fed him a few fish as we lay in the fading sunlight, "I-I'm sorry... for leaving you," I apologised to the dragon. Toothless warbled quietly and shook his head as if to bat the apology away. I grinned and started scratching him again, to which I was rewarded with loud purring. "You overgrown kitten," I chuckled. Toothless only huffed and continued purring.

As the Sun set completely I settled down to sleep next to the Night Fury. I felt safe in his presence. My life was back in order, although my Dad would probably call it madness. I laughed at the thought of how strange my life had become. Shortly after I drifted into an undisturbed sleep.

 **Sorry this a bit of a shorter chapter. As won't be able to write at all next week I thought I'd get this out so you don't have to wait another week. I'm trying to get a chapter written every other week, which is as fast as I can write without getting burnt out. I will add a chapter progress to my bio, so I can try and not leave you in the dark. I tried my best to write the ideas I got last time into the story and I'd love to hear any more ideas. Anyway, until the next time.**


	12. Igniting Ambition

**Thanks again you wonderful people.**

Igniting Ambition

When I awoke I found a nosy dragon sticking his head into my shelter. I stretched and got up, "Morning Toothless," I said with a yawn. Giving him a lazy pet I walked out and winced in the morning light, blinking until my eyes adjusted. Toothless lit the fire with a well aimed blast, seeing this brought back a memory.

At some point in the night I had come up with a idea that at the time seemed stupid but, now in this new light had some promise. I wanted to create another better tail fin to help Toothless fly again. This would require the forge in the fleet to be relit which was previously a problem but, this time I had a dragon with me that could shoot superheated fireballs, "Might come in handy," I joked. I ran the idea past Toothless, however I could not tell if he understood all of it, or none of it. I shrugged and chuckled, "I'm pretty sure he's smarter than he's letting on," I thought to myself.

We set off after breakfast, back into the forest and towards the fleet of ships. As I walked I talked to my Night Fury companion. I knew I was rambling but the dragon seemed somewhat interested and made the occasional noise to show he was still listening. We walked across a field I was becoming familiar with, it had no tree cover and contained a grass-like plant that reached up to my neck. I had already made a path though the plants and so traversing it wasn't hard. When I reached the other side I realised that Toothless was no longer making noises. I turned to look at him but he wasn't there; I spun on the spot to see if I had somehow missed him, "Toothless?" I called.

I began backtracking through the field until I heard a purring. I curiously ran over to find Toothless upside-down and rolling around in the field. "Well that's new," I said confused. Toothless' eyes were wide and he was purring loudly. I thought hard, trying to think if I had seen this behaviour in another animal. Something finally clicked into place, I had seen this before in cats when around catnip. "S-so this is like catnip but for dragons?" I queried, "Dragon-nip?" I put a handful in my pocket and walked over to the dopey dragon, "Come on," I said giving the Night Fury a push in right direction.

By the time Toothless had fully recovered we had reached the cliff edge that towered over the enclave filled with ships. The only difference now was that one of the ships had been partially sunk by a Monstrous Nightmare. "That'll make it harder to cross," I mumbled. The large tracks of the huge red dragon were still visible in the mud even after the downpour.

I carefully made my way down the treacherous path; It was far too small for Toothless to follow. He had to slowly scramble down the rock-face in a far from gracious manner. I waited patiently at the bottom for him. There was no way he was getting out the same way he came in. As I was gazing up at the cliffs I noticed another set of much larger claw marks, "They must be from when the Nightmare chased me," I thought aloud.

"Now, you are not going to fit in that," I said eyeing up the small row boat, "Go on ahead," I gestured to the first proper ship. Toothless walked over to the shore, unfurled his wings and leapt into air. He stayed airborne just long enough to glide onto the deck. The frigate rocked gently after being disturbed. It was my turn to cross. I clambered into the swaying boat and made my way across. The hardest part was pulling myself up onto the ship.

Unfortunately we had to make our way to the forge-ship which happened to be a the very back of the fleet. Normally this would not be a too difficult task but, with one of the key frigates sunk we would have to get a lot more creative.

The closest ship was on the starboard side; There was no way Toothless could jump the gap and certainly no way I could.

"We have to get over there somehow bud," I said after a minute of thought, "Any ideas?" I threw out not expecting an answer. Much to my disbelief however Toothless did appear to have an idea, he would stare at me, then stare at the mast, and then back to me.

"You want me to climb the mast?" I said uncertainly, the dragon shook his head but now added the other ship to his cycle. Me, the mast and then to the ship. I looked on in complete confusion. Toothless started hitting his head against the pole and then glanced up to me, "I-I got nothing bud," I stuttered. He rolled his emerald eyes and bounded off over the deck in search of something.

He came back with an axe in his mouth and pretended to swing it at the mast. The Night Fury then started up the staring cycle. I followed his gaze once again. Something finally clicked into place and I let out an "Ooooh," of realisation. "You want me to use the mast as a bridge?..." I questioned and the dragon nodded frantically, "Why didn't I think of that." I muttered the second part much quieter, annoyed that I had been outsmarted. Toothless jumped excitedly around the ship.

I grabbed my own axe, lined it up against the mast and swung. It landed with a satisfying thwack, burying itself into the wood. Even though the wood was beginning to rot it was still no easy feat. It took the best part of an hour and a multitude of breaks but it was finally weak enough for Toothless to push it over. The mast toppled through the air and embedded itself into the deck of the other frigate. I could see the distant splinters flying everywhere as the crows nest crashed though the deck, disintegrating in the process, "Oops," I mumbled.

Wasting no time I gathered as much rope as I could find and tied it together end to end until I had a piece long enough to stretch between the two ships. "Right, don't let go of this," I said handing one end of the rope to Toothless who bit down on it. "Here I go... I've always been so good at balancing," I dead-panned as I climbed up onto the mast, "Wish me luck."

There was no chance I was going to walk across it. I had to crouch down on all fours and crawl across it. As I approached the halfway point the old wood began to creak ominously, it did not help to settle my concerns. I tried not to think about it and just kept putting one hand in front of the other.

Before I knew it I was most of the way across. By this point the mast was becoming thinner and more unstable. I almost fell when it jolted down a metre and let out a loud crunching noise. Very fortunately I managed to cling on to the ladder on the underside, saving myself from a watery fate. I made a heroic leap for the ship just as the mast decided to split in two. The landing was rough but I managed to get a good grip to pull myself up.

After getting up I ran over to the still intact mast of this new ship and tied the rope around it. Giving an experimental tug on the knot I signalled to toothless to start pulling. I chipped in as much as I could. At first it seemed as if nothing was happening. Reluctantly and with much effort the two frigates began creeping towards each other. As we pulled hard they began to pickup speed and it became easier to pull.

The ships finally bumped together and I tied them together quickly. Toothless could now cross between them although he looked rather tired too. Once we recovered we began traversing the rest of the fleet. The rest of the hops were quite simple in comparison and in no time we were on the last ship.

The forge-ship swayed softly as we jumped aboard. As I jumped across I noticed something metallic near the bow of the ship, the glare of the Sun reflecting off it caught my gaze. I crossed back to get a better view. It appeared that this ship had been named, "The Ambition, huh," I murmured, "I could sure use some of that right now," I joked. Now that I looked around I saw that a lot of the bigger ships had names – some of which I couldn't even pronounce.

With a shrug I walked back. I tugged at the heavy metal hatch and, with the help of Toothless, managed to get it open. It landed with a clang that echoed around the cliffs. I lit a torch and descended below deck, Toothless following close behind. I stopped at the heavy door and felt him bump into me. "It's going to be a tight fit," I said to the dragon, looking over my shoulder.

After wrenching the door open with a horrible grinding of old metal hinges we both squeezed into the room. Everything was exactly how I left it; Spare parts and plans lay scattered on the desk. "Just how I like it," I joked which gained an unamused look from the dragon, "Alright, alright, I'll clean it up," I said after seeing his expression.

"But first could you shoot one of your fireballs in there," I asked and gestured to the open forge. Toothless waddled over and I threw some fuel in. In a split second there was a roaring fire inside, it has a blue glow to it. I shut the doors and the roaring quietened.

"While that's heating up lets go make you a place to stay," I said to Toothless who's ears perked up. I showed him to the room I had stayed in before, the night when the flock had flown over. As it used to hold the entire crew it had more than enough space for a dragon. I left the bed nearest the door as mine and began moving the others to create some floor space near the back of the cabin. In that space I laid the mattresses from the beds.

After this we stacked the rest of the, now empty, bed frames in a corner. I stood back and admired our work as Toothless bounced over and landed on his 'bed', his face full of excitement. I chuckled and backed out of the room but not before explaining to the dragon that I would be downstairs.

I wandered back to the forge and after a simple test found that it was almost hot enough. I dragged the chair over to the desk and began drawing up a plan with a newly discovered enthusiasm. There was nothing I loved more than to run my mind through a complicated build project such as this.

By the time I had finished the plan the forge was as hot as it was going to get and there was orange light pouring though the small window behind me. I jumped up and began pulling tools off the wall. It took awhile to create the moulds I needed for the intricate parts of my design. As I put some metal into the forge a now familiar dragon ambled in. The steel would take awhile to melt so I gave Toothless some scratches as I waited. He seemed content.

Before I poured the metal into the moulds I had to run up to the deck and lower a bucket down so I could get some water. Once I got back everything was now in place to start. I carefully poured the molten liquid into the moulds. Then when the metal was still red hot I broke the moulds off of the parts and hammered out any imperfections while the steel was still malleable. It was then dunked in the water bucket to cool and harden.

I repeated this for all the parts. At some point Toothless had either got too hot or bored and had sauntered out. The rods could be made on their own without the help of a mould. When I finally had all the parts spread out on the desk on top of the plan I stood back and gave a small smile at my progress. The Sun had set some time ago but I was having too much fun to notice.

The next step was the covering, "That held out the longest last time," I said sarcastically to myself, "... although I think the wood was the biggest flaw." I cut out the shape twice as I had done before and began sewing the whole contraption together. This time I had made it so that I could change its deployment by pulling on a bit of rope. Everything was also reinforced with bolts so events could not repeat themselves.

Toothless poked his head in right as I put the final few stitches in. "What do you think bud?" I queried holding up the fin. His face formed into a toothless grin. "Glad you like it," I said petting the dragon

"Do you want to give it a little test," I said excitedly. I could not wait and so it was I who ran out onto the deck hoping in anticipation. As the dragon walked out I placed the lit torch in a holder so we could find our way back to the ship. I began attaching it to Toothless' tail, pulling the straps under and round, fixing them with a buckle. He made a gesture with his head suggesting I should get on his back. I gingerly climbed on trying not to hurt the dragon. He ruffled his wings and then unfurled them.

Controlling the tail was still difficult however riding on the back of Toothless was a huge improvement for clinging on to his tail. He seemed as happy as I was to be in the air again; It gave him chance to stretch his wings. The wind rushed through my hair and chilled my face. I didn't care, it was such a clear night with a sky full of twinkling stars.

We flew around the edge of the cliffs and Toothless shot a plasma blast in delight of the success. I had been studying the fin for the duration of the flight. It seemed to be holding together far better than its predecessor. "I've still got to work on this stupid control system," I muttered making a mental note for myself.

The back of Toothless was also not the most comfortable so I made a quick note in my book. I was going to make a saddle to make the ride smoother and to give me something to hang onto when performing dangerous manoeuvrers. I was already creating a plan in my head for what I wanted to do.

Toothless made one final sweeping turn before coming in to land. I pulled on the rope and opened the fin fully so that we landed with a thud, back on the deck. "That worked better than expected," I said. Toothless seemed to agree. We walked back to the sleeping quarters side-by-side until we got through the door.

We got in our respective beds. I put the bar across the door and put out the torch. I lay there for a few minutes before I started talking into the darkness, "What am I going to do," I said with a hint of hopelessness in my voice. Toothless let out a reassuring coo and I continued, "As much as I hate the place I dread to think how much my Dad is worrying..." I paused, "I doubt anyone has been allowed to bunk off the search... makes me feel awful, all the extra work people will now have to do."

"I just don't know my way back," I hissed sounding frustrated, "W-why can't I have an easy life," I grumbled into my pillow. At this point I felt a nose press against me. I jumped in surprise before realising Toothless had crept over, "Ah... sorry Toothless... I'm just a bit upset over this whole situation," I concluded giving the dragon a scratch. He purred and wandered back over to his bed.

I sighed and relaxed back into my bed; I felt better after the little outburst. It wasn't long before I heard snoring coming from the end of the cabin, and it was only a few moments later that I fell into a deep sleep.

 **Hope you liked this chapter. I'm thinking of re-writing the first few chapters as I'm not too happy with them and I'd really appreciate some ideas for making them better or just general thoughts. I don't think I'll be able to get another chapter out on time as I'm going back to university and it's almost exam time so unfortunately I have to focus on that but, I'll keep you updated. Anyway, until the next time.**


	13. Troubling Constuctions

**I'm finally back, sorry it's been so long. Hope I haven't lost any of you amazing people. This is a slightly longer chapter, would love to know what you think of it.**

Troubling Constructions

For the first time in awhile I awoke in comfortable bed. I yawned, stretched and sat up. There was an odd noise coming from the dark end of the cabin and, in my drowsiness I couldn't place my finger on the source.

After a minute my head cleared and I rubbed my eyes. As they adjusted I realised what the noise was. It was the sound of a snoring dragon – not something a Viking is used to, especially one of my calibre. Looking to the small windows I could see it was the crack of dawn and I decided against waking the night fury.

Quietly I snuck out of the room and out onto the deck. It was a nice place to sit and think to myself, the gentle swaying had a calming effect. Flicking through my note book and thinking back to the previous day reminded me what I needed to build today – a saddle and some kind of control mechanism.

To make the saddle however I would need to measure Toothless, "Won't that be fun."

"He is still sleeping though, so..." I mumbled to myself, "...maybe I could do it now." I knew how much of a stupid idea that sounded but, I didn't have a better plan.

Before confronting the dragon, I flipped open my note book once again and began drawing a rough sketch, labelling the important techniques and types of stitching that should be used on the different parts. The design wasn't simple and had intricate overlapping leather strips placed for both strength and design. The only blank spots left were for the measurements.

"This'll be fun," I dead-panned at the thought of trying not to wake the night fury. If there was a harder task than this, I certainly didn't know it. My level of clumsiness wasn't going to help much either.

I had procrastinated long enough and it was finally time to collect the sizes. I slipped into the forge room and picked out a few long pieces of cloth that I could mark off at the required lengths.

With a deep breath I silently opened the door and crept inside. Toothless was still sleeping at the end of the cabin. Stealthily I inched forwards towards the slumbering dragon.

There was a moment when I almost woke him; I had taken a cautious step onto a loose floorboard which had proceeded to creak loudly. Toothless grumbled and rolled over but, fortunately he did not wake up.

If I wasn't so scared of waking the night fury, I would have let out a sigh of relief. Measuring the length of the dragon's back was the easy part. All I had to do was to lay out one strip along his back and mark off the distance on the fabric.

The hard part was finding the circumference of the dragon at the places where straps would go. This required a very steady hand and a lot of patience; Luckily for me I had both. To get the measurements I had to throw one end of the strip over the sleeping dragon and wait for him to roll over so I could collect the end.

After many tense moments, I had finally collected everything I needed and had all the marked fabric strips back. By the time I was done it was no longer sunrise and light was starting to pour through the windows. All I had left to do was leave the room unnoticed.

I slowly crept around the dragon so that I had a straight line to the door. As I snuck down the room I got distracted trying to see what the weather was outside the windows. I stepped forwards and caught my foot on the same loose board that creaked the first time.

I toppled forwards and fell into a stack of bed frames with a yelp. There was a tremendous crash as the pile clattered down on top of me. I braced my arms above my head and waited for the sound to stop reverberating off the walls.

The night fury would definitely be awake now.

Once everything settled again I poked my head out and looked towards Toothless. He had shot to his feet and had his ears perked in case of danger. I gave a small friendly wave from under the pile trying to indicate an apology. All I got in return was a look which was a cross of sarcastic and disappointed.

"Yeah, I probably deserve that," I said, beginning to extricate myself from the mess I'd made.

After a few more minutes the bed frames were back in their neat stack and Toothless finally waddled over. I gave him a scratch but, he seemed too fixated on something else to notice. I followed his gaze down onto the floor and found what was enthralling him.

It was my measuring strips and, as I moved so did they. His eyes were wide and were locked onto the strips. I flicked the fabric left and right watching Toothless' eyes dart around after it.

Letting out a small chuckle I stepped back slowly until only the end of one strip was left in the room. At this point the dragon lowered himself to the floor, looking like a cat about to pounce.

Suddenly he launched himself forwards with deadly precision. I only just managed to pull the strip out from underneath him. Before he got out the door I was already making a bolt for the stairs. I didn't need to look to know he was behind me, I could hear the dragon thundering along behind.

I jumped above deck and quickly ran to the edge of the ship; From there I dived across to the next ship – with the night fury hot on my heels. I knew he was faster than me in a straight line so, I started making sudden direction changes. Every time I did this I could hear Toothless scrabbling on the deck trying to change his heading.

After several loops of the nearby ships I finally ran out of stamina. I dropped to my knees and rolled onto my back taking deep breaths. A moment later I realised how bad of an idea that was. Toothless pounced on the strips and flopped directly on top of me. I let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of me.

As I recovered, I started laughing at the whole situation and began petting the dragon.

"I'm starving after that, how about some breakfast?" I chuckled as I saw Toothless' ears shoot up at the prospect of food.

"Come on then," I said waving my hand forward.

Toothless helped me to my feet and we set off once again across the ships but, this time without a chase. Getting back to the shore wasn't too difficult after we had repositioned two of the ships; It was only a short hop down onto the beach.

"Looks like we'll need a small flight to get up the cliff." There was no chance Toothless was climbing up the same way he got down the previous day. He seemed to agree.

I hopped up onto his back and grabbed the control rope. It was still awful to use but, it was better than nothing. I pulled on it and opened the tail fin wide. Then I gave Toothless the all clear for takeoff.

We began to rise slowly with each beat of Toothless' powerful wings. He seemed to be struggling a tiny bit with vertical flight but, I put it down to him being tired and my shoddy fin construction.

In no time we were at the top of the cliff. All it took was a change in fin deployment and we were placed safely on the ground at the edge of the forest. From here it was a short trek to the dam to get some fish.

I pushed some leaves apart and we set off into the shrubbery. For the most part the walk was uneventful apart from occasionally Toothless would pounce at a forest creature he spotted. I had laughed when a butterfly had landed on his nose. The night fury had gone cross-eyed and then sneezed a moment later.

I arrived alone at the dam, Toothless had gone off to sulk after I laughed at him. I began pulling the fish out from behind the dam and placing them out on sticks to dry. There was a whole collection of fish, even a dangerous looking yellow and black eel which I still set out.

It was as I put the final fish out that I heard loud rustling and crunching coming from the trees opposite.

"About time," I joked assuming Toothless was back from his pout but, when I heard nothing back I glanced up.

Much to my horror it was not the night fury but instead a it was a vibrant green hideous zippleback with red frills. It must have smelt the fish.

"Oh," was about all I could manage.

I leapt back as it approached trying to make myself small. The zippleback just sparked one of it's head menacingly as it walked. Unfortunately for me it didn't have a blind spot. I jumped back across the river and ran to the edge of the clearing but something wasn't quite right.

I was not being pursued, glancing around I saw the green dragon looking terrified. All four eyes were locked on to something amongst the fish. Plucking up my courage I moved forward to discover that it was the eel in particular that was scaring the zippleback.

Forming a plan in my head I took a few steps forwards. The dragon didn't look like it was moving anytime soon. I crept up to the eel on a stick and pulled it from the ground. Then I brandished it like a weapon, waving it towards the dragon.

It did not like that and it jumped away. I kept moving in the direction of the zippleback, in the hopes to scare it away. As I walked, it slunk back out of the clearing into the forest. I wasn't sure it had completely fled yet so, in a instance of bravery I charged towards the zippleback.

It let out a startled screech and launched clumsily into the air. I stuck the stick back in the ground and wiped the 'eel slime' off my hands.

A moment later Toothless came wandering nonchalantly out of the foliage.

"W-w-where have you been?" I said flustered. He just raised a draconic eyebrow and wandered over.

"D-did you not see the..." I stuttered out, gesturing to the sky, "Never mind," the zippleback was long gone. I threw my hands up in annoyance and went back over to the fish.

"Here you go," I chucked a few of them towards the night fury who ate the fish in a matter of seconds. I then set up a small camp fire to cook another for myself.

Once we were both fed and watered we set off back towards the fleet. On the way I explained to Toothless my plans for a saddle and he seemed to agree that one was necessary. I had never thought about it from the dragons perspective, it must be just as bad but, I had only decided to build it because of my discomfort.

I didn't think about Toothless, "How selfish of me," I thought aloud.

"You're going to have to help me with some of this bud." Flipping open my note book, I made some adjustments to my saddle plans to improve dragon comfort.

When we got back to the tall cliffs, I again climbed on Toothless and we glided softly onto the deck of the nearest ship. From there we managed to clamber to the large forge ship and we took a short rest on the deck.

By the time I finally wrenched the forge-room door open and stepped inside it was past noon. I dropped the open note book on the desk and gathered a few supplies. Toothless seemed to know I was here for the long haul and waddled out the room, probably to go take a nap.

I however was in my element. Pieces seemed to be slotting together in my mind. With a bit of charcoal I drew out all shapes of parts I would need onto a huge sheet of leather. Then with a knife, which had to be sharpened, I cut out all of the pieces and laid them on the desk.

I let out a sigh of relief when the last part was cut, the cutting procedure with the same simple movements had tired my arm out. It was worth the potential aching arm for the fun of assembling the saddle.

"By far the best part of a project," I muttered while laying out the leather strips into the criss-crossing pattern I had drawn earlier. I also laid an outer strengthening strip that followed the perimeter of the design.

The stitching together of all the parts was the longest process, especially with the quality of work I liked. I made sure there were no loose ends or uneven surfaces.

All I had to do now was find Toothless and let him choose the material he wanted for the bottom of the saddle. Somewhat knowing the dragon I decided to check the sleeping cabin first, at this time of the day he would almost certainly be dozing somewhere.

So it was much to my surprise when I did not find the dragon asleep in the back of the cabin.

It was only when I resorted to looking above deck that I found the night fury. I had got one thing right; He _was_ dozing, just not where I thought a night fury would be. I found Toothless asleep up by the ship's wheel apparently soaking in the Sun's warmth. Upon reflection this didn't seem as odd as I first thought, I had seen this behaviour in lizards before.

"Wake up you overgrown reptile," I mocked in a light hearted tone and gave the dragon a nudge.

Several moments of pestering later, Toothless finally got up and I managed to guide him in the right direction. By the time we were in the forge-room he was fully awake and alert. I gestured towards the selection of materials and asked him to pick the one he found most comfortable.

I could see the conflict in his eyes, clearly the decision was narrowed down to two options. After a minute of deliberation and a few tests of the fabrics he seemed to make up his mind. Toothless then nudged me, as I had zoned out, and I sprung into action.

"A woven sheep's wool fabric, a good choice," I commended the dragon who seemed to appreciate the attention.

"Not an easy one for me though," I joked, "It'll take me awhile just to weave enough."

With a last scratch for the dragon, I set to work collecting the stock of wool. Luckily for me there was a large amount of previously woven fabric so, I only had to make up the remaining section. The task was very repetitive and got dull quickly however the occasional visit from Toothless made it bearable.

Finally the project was complete, I held the design up to the light trying to find any last imperfections. The saddle held up to my inspections and I was finally happy with it. With everything finished I went to find Toothless with the hopeful plan of trying another flight.

From the dragon's expression I could tell that the saddle was up to his standards. However, the moment I lifted it up he leapt back and ran off with a goofy look on his face.

"Come back bud, this isn't a game," I panted after him.

I searched high and low for the dragon but, every time I got close he would slink off again. Eventually I was able to corner him in the sleeping cabin and he resentfully allowed the saddle to be put on.

"See, it's not so bad," I chuckled and tightened the straps. The whole concept of putting a saddle on a dragon would have be preposterous to me a week earlier.

"How about a stretch of your wings then?" At this I saw his ears perk up and he returned to bouncing off the walls in excitement.

"Toothless, calm down!" I tried to settle the dragon with little to no success. All I could do now was hold the door open and hope he went the right way.

With some heavy persuasion I managed to get Toothless above deck and ready. A final quick check and I was ready. I could already feel a huge difference with the saddle in place. I nudged Toothless' side and we launched into the air, I had given direct orders to stress test the saddle. This meant sharp turns and sudden speed change – luckily I had something to hang onto this time.

The saddle was holding up fine; The tail fin on the other hand was impossible to control with the piece of rope I had in one hand. Occasionally we would drop a few metres as it slipped, in these situations I had to pull hard on the rope until we recovered. Toothless seemed concerned and hated the sudden lack in control. The longer these problems went on the more I wanted to create a mechanical system that left both hands free to cling on.

I gave Toothless another nudge and he levelled out into smooth flight. We could both rest for a moment, the fin wasn't so bad in light conditions. I almost though I heard Toothless breath a sigh of relief.

"I am definitely redoing this honestly quite terrible control system," the dragon agreed, there were too many close calls, "I'll start as soon as we get back." In all honesty I didn't want to land, I enjoyed flying with Toothless but, I knew we had to.

We took one final lap of the island before landing hard from slightly fumbled fin control. I had tried my best but the fin would not stay deployed; I apologised to the dragon and started grumbling to myself about the problems with the current design.

On the way to forge-room I fed Toothless and grabbed a cooked fish for myself. It slightly lifted my spirits and distracted me from the difficult task ahead of me.

I'd never built anything like this before, be me meant I wasn't normally allowed free reign the Berk forge. The last mechanical item I constructed was a bola launcher and that didn't exactly end well.

"It's the reason I'm in this mess in the first place," I huffed to myself.

Challenging designs were always the best ones, I loved the eureka moment where everything suddenly seems to fall into place, although I first had to create the plan. So that was why I could be found sat at the desk in the forge trying to find a starting place. A blank page is always the most daunting.

I began scribbling down notes of things I knew would have to be implemented, for example the control system would have to be run under the dragon in order for it not to restrict wing movements.

To counter this I decided it would be smart to attach extra parts to the saddle which Toothless' legs would go through; From these rings I could run any required control strings. I pushed these thoughts aside as the biggest challenge was how I was going to control the fin.

Thinking back to a normal, non-dragon saddle gave me the idea of using stirrups. As I needed both hands free they were an excellent solution to give me control of the fin using my feet. For my design the stirrups would have to be bulkier and stronger than your average run of the mill stirrup.

With that out of the way I turned my mind to the fin itself and how a wire was going to retract and deploy it. For retraction I decided a spring inside the fin would be best but, deployment was the real challenge. All that came to my head was some kind of cog system however I could simply not visualise the solution.

After wasting a lot of time trying to come up with an answer, I gave up on mentally picturing the device and made some wooden test gears to play with. I cut them out of some spare wood and began seeing what worked and what didn't in an attempt to stimulate some innovation.

The last of the light faded over the horizon as I finished off a plan for a mechanism I was finally happy with. I only noticed the lack of light when I could no longer see the page. Grumbling a little, I fumbled around the room in a vain attempt to find the torch on the wall, eventually finding and lighting it.

I sat back at the desk drew the last few parts on the design. My design was one that allowed a small tilting of the feet in the stirrups to move gear inside the fin much more. This gear had a rod on one of the teeth which would be the rod in the leading edge of the tail fin. This was the simplified version of the design, in reality there were more gears and rods in other places.

The only big change I had to make with the rest of the saddle was the usage of the other stirrup as more axes of control were needed. One side was rough control, the other was fine control.

With the plan draw up I let out a yawn and stretched in my chair. It was getting late but I really wanted to finish the project.

"I've come too far to stop now."

All I had to do now was find Toothless and get the fin. Instead of chasing him again I decided to call for him a few times. A moment later a rather dishevelled looking night fury waddled in – he had clearly been sleeping.

"Sorry for waking you bud," I gave the dragon an affectionate scratch, "But I'm going to need to take that fin off you."

He seemed too tired to complain and just complied.

"Thanks," I yawned placing the fin on the workbench. Toothless cooed quietly and shuffled out.

As the forge heated up I began construction of the moulds for the gears and rods of the design. I used some of the unusual metal I found above deck to fill the moulds. Overall I was pretty pleased with the contraption, it was definitely one to remember.

By the time all the parts were made I could barely keep my eyes open. It was only through sheer willpower to see the project through to the end that I managed to stay conscious. I began keeping a mental note of how many part were left as the assembly neared completion. _Only three parts left_. _Two to go. Last one._

I slotted this last piece in, with a satisfying clunk. Letting out a feeble whoop of success I slumped forward onto the desk and passed out atop the fin.

 **Hope this chapter lived up to expectations. I don't really like asking for reviews but I also want to know what you guys think of this story, so what do you want me to write here? Some pointless stuff? I certainly don't know. Anyway, until the next time.**


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